Amber Cars acquired by Welsh group Veezu Ltd

Mazars, the International accountancy firm, advised on the sale of Leeds-based Amber Cars to Welsh group Veezu Ltd.

With over 25 years of experience, Amber Cars is a professionally operated private hire business.

Established by Andy Pennock, the company has become one of the region’s largest private hire operators and has over 750 uniformed drivers and over 150 company owned vehicles.

Amber Cars also uses innovative technology with its mobile application and automated booking systems.

The Corporate Finance team based in Mazars’ Leeds office, led by Corporate Finance Partner Rob Burton and supported by Chris Dale, has advised Amber Cars on the deal with Veezu Ltd.

Veezu, one of the UK’s fastest growing private hire and taxi companies, is headquartered in South Wales. The acquisition of Amber Cars is their 3rd sizable acquisition in 13 months, which sees the group with over 2,250 cars and 235 staff moving circa 20 million passengers per annum.

Veezu was founded by Welsh entrepreneurs; Paul Ragan (founder of Welsh insurance broker, Protectagroup and former Cardiff Devils Ice Hockey chairman) and Nathan Bowles (founder of Smart Solutions Recruitment), who both have plans to lead consolidation in the UK Private Hire Sector.

Andy Pennock, managing director at Amber Cars, will remain in the business after the sale is completed, and form part of the Veezu board. He will be tasked with integrating the two businesses and work alongside the Veezu management team.

Mr Pennock said: “This is an immensely exciting day for Amber Cars. Veezu is a large and established UK operator who share our focus on investing in new technology to raise the bar and create a ‘best-in-class’ offering for all B2C and B2B customers. It’s business as usual for all our valued existing and new customers.”

Paul Ragan, chief executive officer at Veezu, added: “The acquisition of Amber Cars is part of our growth strategy to launch six regional hubs across the UK. Amber Cars is an extremely professional and successful business and is a perfect match to our current portfolio. We are looking forward to working with the team at Amber Cars and their customers to provide the very best service across Yorkshire.”

Rob Burton, corporate finance partner at Mazars, also commented: “Mazars has worked with Amber Cars for a long time and we are delighted to support them with this deal. The acquisition by Veezu is a positive move for them and we wish them well with the integration of the business.”

Advisors for the deal were Rob Burton, Corporate Finance Partner, and Chris Dale of Mazars with legal advice provided by Langleys York represented by Christian Hunt, Corporate Partner and Alex Birch.

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