 | |
| Company type | Vehicle remarketing and logistics |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1946: as Southern Counties Car Auctions October 2020: Constellation Automotive Group |
| Founder | David Wickins |
| Headquarters | , England |
Key people | Avril Palmer-Baunack (executive chairman) Tim Lampert (CFO) |
| Products | Physical and online vehicle auctions |
| Owner | TDR Capital |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | www |
Constellation Automotive Group is a used vehicle marketplace. It was founded in the United Kingdom in 1946, asSouthern Counties Car Auctions, and was a publicly traded company,BCA Marketplace, when acquired and takenprivate byTDR Capital in November 2019. TDR rebranded it to the current name in October 2020.
In 1946,Royal Navy officerDavid Wickins decided to sell hisRiley Lynx tourer. Placing an advert in the local newspaper, he offered to sell the car to the first person who turned up at his mother's house inFarnham,Surrey with £200. Arriving home late, he found a crowd of eager buyers, and so auctioned the car off for £420.[1]
Wickins then rented a farmer's field at Frimley Bridges, now under junction 4 of theM3 motorway on theA331 by Hawley Road inFrimley, Surrey, and set up his first public auction.[1] The 14 cars sold for a total of £8,250. Wickins and one of his brothers immediately founded Southern Counties Car Auctions, which, when he left the Royal Navy soon after, he expanded across the UK by selling surplus ex-British Army andRoyal Air Force vehicles for theMinistry of Defence.[1]
Wickins renamed the companyBritish Car Auctions, and expanded it across Europe and the United States through acquisition. This included the purchase of the car auctions division of Britishconglomerate Hawley Goodall, owned byMichael Ashcroft, which started a lifelong friendship between them. Ashcroft, through hisBermuda andBelize based holdings in various banks, financed a number of Wickins' later business ventures.[2]
The company had head offices at the Frimley Bridges site, but later moved to purpose-built premises atBlackbushe Airport,Yateley to accommodate the now-closed aviation division. It still occupies the site.[1] Employing 160 at its head office, Wickins built the company into the largest car auction business in the world before retiring in 1990.[1] A near-scratch golfer, through this and his long association with theConservative Party, Wickins met and befriendedDenis Thatcher.[1] Wickins later agreed to sponsorMark Thatcher'smotor racing activities in the 1980s through BCA.[1] Denis Thatcher later served on one of Wickins' company boards, while Mark Thatcher served as chairman ofLotus Cars and later BCA in North America, which Wickins had led from near-bankruptcy to survival.[1]
In the late 1980s,Belize-based Hawley Goodall undertook areverse takeover ofADT Security Services, and renamed itself ADT.[3] Focusing on security systems, ADT sold the North American and European arms of BCA in separate deals. While the residual North American arm was broken-up and sold to trade buyers, the European arm was acquired by a consortium of some 40 private investors, including Lord Ashcroft via his Belize-based investment company, in 1995.[4] In September 2006, the European arm was bought by theinvestment banking arm of private bankSamuel Montagu & Co., a division ofHSBC.[4]
In February 2010, BCA was acquired by theprivate equity investment firmClayton, Dubilier & Rice.[5] In March 2015 Haversham Holdings, an investment business, undertook a reverse takeover of BCA and renamed itself BCA Marketplace.[6]
In July 2019, the company launchedcinch, an online used-car marketplace aimed at the consumer market.[7][8] Thecinch marketplace has been the major sponsor of theScottish Premiership, Scotland's topfootball-division, since the2021-2022 season, also acquiringnaming rights.[9]
The company was acquired byTDR Capital in November 2019,[10] and was renamed Constellation Automotive Group in October 2020.[11][12]
In December 2021, details of the £323 million purchase of the Marshall Motor Group were announced, although completion was delayed until May 2022 due to a regulatory review byFinancial Conduct Authority.[13]
FollowingCazoo's May 2024 collapse, Constellation acquired some Cazoo assets.[14]
The company operates the largest vehicle auction site in Europe and auctions over 50% of all cars sold by auction in the UK.[15]
…registered the name change… last October. … The move means that Constellation Automotive Group is the umbrella company for WeBuyAnyCar, BCA, and Cinch, with the BCA Marketplace brand being dropped
