Montagu Private Equity LLP (“Montagu”), one of Europe’s longest established private equity firms, today announced the sale of CAP (“the Company”) to Solera Holdings, Inc., a leading provider of risk and asset management software and services to the automotive and property marketplace, including the global P&C insurance industry, for a total consideration of £288 million. CAP is a market leading provider of vehicle valuation data, new vehicle information and business solutions to the automotive industry.
Founded in 1979 and based in the UK, CAP’s data and information systems serve clients across a broad range of automotive-related sectors, including motor retail, fleet, finance and insurance. The business’s best of breed data assets are underpinned by the proprietary ‘CAP Code’, which enables seamless integration of data-sets within web environments and business workflow tools. CAP’s current used car values are recognised as an independent benchmark for residual values performance across the disposals industry and CAP Gold Book and Gold Book iQ are the leading residual values forecasting tools in the contract hire and leasing sector. CAP’s vehicle data and tools support business decision-makers every day in motor retail operations, including e-commerce, Dealer Management and Showroom Systems as well as asset management systems across the whole automotive sector.
Montagu has supported the incumbent management team to grow the business through investment in its innovative, market leading products and continued expansion into new market segments providing data information solutions to clients in the automotive sectors. Since Montagu acquired CAP in 2012, the business has enhanced its core products, grown internationally from its UK base, launched a set of new tools and services for its customers and increased its workforce by over 75%, helping grow revenue by over 40%.
Edward Shuckburgh, Director of Montagu, said:
“We are very proud to have worked closely with CAP’s excellent management team to accelerate the Company’s growth, both in the UK and internationally, through significant investment in its data-products, the team and selective acquisitions. We wish the CAP team well and know they will continue to thrive under the ownership of Solera.”
Ian Rendle, Chief Executive of CAP, said:
“CAP has enjoyed significant growth under Montagu’s ownership and we thank them for their support and investment in the business. We look forward to working with Solera whose
automobile industry expertise will offer extensive synergies and opportunities for further international growth.”
Tony Aquila, Solera’s founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said:
“We are pleased to have worked with Ian Rendle, Ed Shuckburgh and the CAP and Montagu teams to complete this important transaction. CAP’s solutions are a key piece of our risk and asset management strategy in the UK, benefiting all of the stakeholders across an increasingly-digital automotive lifecycle. We are committed to building upon Montagu’s investments and capitalizing on the opportunities created by our 73-country global footprint.”
EY provided financial advice to Montagu and CAP
