Online vehicle auction company CD Auctions Group has been acquired by Arctos Holdings Ltd, owners of SMH Fleet Solutions and Hudson Kapel.
The buyout follows on from Arctos investing £16 million into a new 40,000 square foot facility in Bedfordshire.
Arctos provides services for vehicle manufacturers, franchise vehicle dealerships, leasing and rental companies, and vehicle fleet providers.
According to Arctos, Hudson Kapel is a leading remarketer of nearly-new damaged vehicles, so the addition of CD Auction Group will complement the firm.
The firm added it can now offer a “totally comprehensive and unrivalled range of services to the motor industry” including vehicle management, logistics, refurbishment, storage, licence-checking and security products.
“We are building a unique portfolio of high quality services so we can continue to offer significant value to our existing customers as well as attracting new clients,” said Martin McAuley, managing director of the Arctos Holding Group. “The acquisition of CD Auction Ltd will add yet more value to our customers as well as providing an enhanced platform for service development and growth”.
CD Auctions operates out of Corby, Northamptonshire, and sells both cars and vans online.
The firm recently opened a dedicated LCV site as the company aims to continue an upward trend in sales volumes.
Speaking to our sister magazine What Van? in July, Andy Brown, CEO of the company, said the establishment of the new centre, located a couple of miles from its headquarters in Corby, is the first of many to come.
“We’re looking to take a couple of sites – maybe somewhere up the M4 and somewhere along the M6,” he told What Van? at the launch of the new centre. “As the business grows, it’ll give us a better proposition in the marketplace.”
In time, CD Auction Group said it is looking to ape web giant Amazon’s approach to business by having big warehouses all over the country.
“Buyer cost of collection will be reduced,” explained Graham Howes, commercial director at CD Auctions, “We have to have the stock come into us and then go out and it is the same with Amazon. It goes in and it goes out and they cut the time of delivery costs by having lots and lots of big sheds around the country, and it will be no different for us. We’ll just need to get the vehicles in, prepare them and then sell through our online system.”
“The movement cost is the biggest challenge,” Brown admitted. “So if we can dissipate some of that with another site – a two-acre site with a washbay, an inspection area, storage area and image studio is all we need – we can sell them online from Corby. This move is very important as it gives us the capability to learn how a remote site works.”
