Blue-chip fleet manager bought by European investor

European investor Aurelius has backed BT’s divestment of its Solihull-headquartered fleet management business.

BT Fleet Solutions has agreed a long term partnership to continue managing BT’s own fleet, which accounts for around one in three of the business’s 80,000-strong fleet.

The deal value has not been disclosed, but TheBusinessDesk understands it is substantially below the £200m figure that was suggested when a sale was first mooted last year and instead is in the “tens of millions”.

BT Fleet employs 950 people and has a network of 65 in-house garages and 500 partner facilities. Its most recent accounts, for its 2018 financial year, showed revenues of £209.5m.

Dr Dirk Markus, group chief executive of Munich-headquartered Aurelius, said: “This deal is a demonstration of our continued interest in the UK market, which presents a number of compelling opportunities for us as a result of the ongoing economic and political uncertainty that has arisen out of Brexit.”

The pound has fallen 7% against the Euro since April and is down nearly 20% since the 2016 referendum.

Markus said BT Fleet Solutions “is a strong business with a high calibre customer base”.

He added: “This acquisition is a further example of Aurelius’ specialism in acquiring non-core divisions that have been carved out of large corporates, and are in need of operational support to transform them into standalone, sustainable organisations.”

The transaction is due to complete in the second half of 2019 ahead of a rebranding of the company in 2020.

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