Freshfields have worked alongside general counsel Ned Staple to advise Cazoo, the UK’s leading online car retailer, on its acquisition of SMH Fleet Solutions, one of the UK’s leading vehicle preparation, logistics & storage businesses. The target’s business also includes its own online auction platform for remarketing used cars to the wholesale market.

The acquisition by Cazoo will combine its consumer platform with SMH’s leading infrastructure, as well as provide Cazoo with one of the most extensive portfolios of vehicle preparation sites and production capabilities in the UK to meet its rapid growth plans.

This deal follows the recent listing of Cazoo on the NYSE, as a result of the business combination with AJAX I, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in respect of which Freshfields advised Cazoo.

The Freshfields team was led by partners Natasha Good, Kate Cooper, Giles Pratt and Alice Greenwell.