Car Loan 4U Announces £8 Million Investment from SEP

MACCLESFIELD, England, February 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Car Loan 4U, the UK's leading online car finance specialist, today announced an £8 million investment from leading UK venture capital firm, Scottish Equity Partners (SEP). The investment will enable Car Loan 4U to accelerate its growth and build on its position as the UK market leader.

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Launched in 2006, Car Loan 4U provides a market-leading online service for consumers looking for car finance, and has overseen its most successful period of growth over the last 12 months.  

Turnover has grown by more than 75% to £11m and headcount has increased to 150 employees. The company hopes to more than quadruple its annual revenues over the next four years.  

The investment will be used to build the Car Loan 4U brand and implement and expand the capabilities of Car Loan 4U's advanced technology, creating a superior customer journey.  

Car Loan 4U CEO James Wilkinson commented: "The investment from SEP represents a landmark for Car Loan 4U and will be invaluable in helping us continue our ambition of revolutionising the market, by transforming the way consumers take out car finance online.

"It comes at an exciting time in the company's history, and the extensive digital technology experience of SEP makes them the perfect partner for us to develop our strong growth. We have expansion plans across the board and in a short space of time, have evolved from a small business exploiting a gap in the market to emerge as a clear leader in our sector."

He added: "The online opportunity in the car finance industry is huge. This investment will allow us to accelerate innovations in our technology and deliver a vastly improved customer experience, as well as expanding our brand and helping us set a new industry standard for the way consumers shop online for car finance."

Andrew Davison, a Partner at SEP, will join the company's board. He said, "Car Loan 4U has been self-funded to date and we have been impressed by the fact that it has consistently grown revenues to become the UK's leading provider of online used car finance.    

"We believe there is a very large market opportunity, with seven million used cars being sold in the UK last year. This involved £8 billion of dealer-arranged finance across an estimated 845,000 deals. We are just at the beginning in terms of the use of the Internet in financial services. Our investment will enable the company to increase its brand awareness, allowing it to capitalise on the trend towards greater online loan provision."

Car Loan 4U will join SEP's expanding digital media and e-commerce portfolio which includes Media Ingenuity, operator of credit card comparison site TotallyMoney.com and the world's fastest growing international travel search company Skyscanner.

Technology investment bank GP Bullhound and lawyers DWF advised on the deal for Car Loan 4U.

For further information, please visit http://www.carloan4u.co.uk

Notes to Editor:

About Car Loan 4U

Founded in 2006 by entrepreneurs James Wilkinson and Ryan Dignan, Car Loan 4U is the UK's leading online car finance specialist.

Car Loan 4U offers a wide range of car finance deals regardless of the customer's history or circumstances to give a fast decision on loan applications for new or used cars, which can be underwritten and approved in minutes.

Based in Macclesfield and employing over 150 people, Car Loan 4U works with a panel of leading UK finance companies including Barclays and Santander.

Awards:

Entrepreneur of the Year, Ryan Dignan - JCI Manchester Young Talent Awards 2013
Team of the Year - JCI Manchester Young Talent Awards 2013
23rd fastest growing digital company in Europe - Media Momentum Awards 2013
Entrepreneur of the Year, James Wilkinson - JCI Manchester Young Talent Awards 2012

For further press information, please contact Car Loan 4U:
Dean Simmons, Email: , Tel: +44(0)7841-199-582

About SEP

Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) is a leading UK venture capital firm which invests in innovative, technology and technology-enabled, companies with significant growth potential. SEP invests in companies throughout the UK in the TMT (technology, media and telecoms), healthcare and energy sectors.

The current SEP portfolio comprises 40 high growth companies including travel search company Skyscanner, luxury fashion retailer matchesfashion.com, healthcare informatics company Aridhia and energy services company Anesco.

SEP is one of the largest venture capital firms in Europe and operates from offices in London and Glasgow. Investors in SEP's limited partnership funds include global financial institutions, alternative asset management companies, pension funds, family offices and major corporates.

For further information see http://www.sep.co.uk 
Media contact: Sarah Lee, +44(0); +44(0)7766542110;

SOURCE Car Loan 4U