Following recent press reports that Leasedrive
VELO, the fleet management and leasing business owned by
private equity house Lyceum Capital, is to be sold in the near
future, Roddy
Graham, commercial director of Leasedrive VELO told Motor
Finance that he could neither confirm nor deny the rumours:
“There is nothing to report about a possible sale of Leasedrive
VELO at this time.”
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Graham continued: “We had an excellent 2007 with the successful
merging of the two businesses [Leasedrive and VELO officially
merged on January 2 2007].”
Accounts about to be published will show Leasedrive VELO achieved
earnings before interest, tax and amortisation of £5m on turnover
of £58m in 2007, he stated.
“With 2007’s success and the positive outlook for the business
in 2008, it is hardly surprising that we have had a number of
unsolicited approaches from interested potential buyers,” Graham
added.
The main focus of the Leasedrive VELO management in 2007 was to
make a success of the merger of the two businesses, and Graham
pronounced himself “extremely pleased” with progress towards this
goal. “We even managed to add new clients over the course of last
year,” he said. Leasedrive VELO’s fleet management and rental
management businesses were also continuing to do “very, very
well”.
New Lyceum fund
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By GlobalDataThe trigger for the sale speculation was the launch of a new
£255m investment fund by Lyceum for UK-based service companies.
Graham said the fund might even be used to help Leasedrive VELO
grow: “With Lyceum’s new funding available for expansion
opportunities, Leasedrive VELO and Lyceum will be looking closely
at expansion through further acquisition.”
Graham further professed himself mostly unworried about the
implications of the credit crunch on business levels. “We have not
experienced any problems yet and we are bullish about our prospects
in the coming year,” he commented. Further development and
integration of Leasedrive VELO’s fleet management and rental
management businesses in coming months is also on the cards, Graham
revealed. He concluded: “We’ve had a very good start to ’08.”
