Leasedrive VELO

Leasedrive Velo makes first appearance in Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100
8 February 2010

Leasedrive Velo has made its first appearance in the latest Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100, which ranks Britain’s 100 private equity-backed companies with the fastest-growing profits. One of the UK’s largest independent privately-owned vehicle management groups, the company was ranked 89th. It was the only fleet management company to feature in the list and was one of 19 companies based in the south east of England.

Commercial director, Roddy Graham said: “Our debut appearance in the Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 recognises the financial growth of our company in a tough and highly competitive business sector.

“We have remained true to our core vision by constantly striving to deliver the highest quality bespoke vehicle management service and demonstrably provide savings and efficiencies to our clients through investment in people, world-class fleet management systems and totally-integrated innovative solutions.

“We remain ambitious and intend to continue driving our dynamic company forward through sustainable organic growth and strategic acquisition.”

Annual profit growth for Leasedrive Velo over the two years up to December 2008 was listed as 32.46 per cent. Backed by private equity partner, LDC, the senior management team – triple winners of the Business Magazine Management Team of the Year Award – holds the remaining 49 per cent.

The Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 citation read: “The Wokingham company Leasedrive Velo provides vehicle rental and fleet management services to blue-chip clients. In September 2008, LDC backed a secondary buyout from Lyceum Capital for an undisclosed sum. One year earlier, Leasedrive had acquired Velo, almost doubling in size. Under the leadership of David Bird, Roddy Graham and Roger Partridge, profits have grown 32% a year from £8.1m in 2006 to £14.2m in 2008.”

Notes to Editors:

About the league table:
Now in its fourth year, The Sunday Times Deloitte Buyout Track 100 annual league table is compiled by Oxford-based research and networking events company Fast Track.

In addition to its title sponsor Deloitte, the league table is co-sponsored by Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets and UBS Wealth Management.

League table criteria:
Companies are ranked according to the compound annual growth in their profits over two years, based on their latest available figures (either 2006 to 2008, or 2007 to 2009). The research therefore carries the caveat that their performance may have changed since. Profits had to exceed £1m in the base year and £3m, but less than £50m, in the latest available figures. There is a separate table of the 10 Biggest private equity-owned companies with the fastest-growing profits, where the latest profits exceed £50m.

Profits are defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), which is generally used by private equity houses as the best indicator of a company’s profit.

Companies had to be registered in the UK, independent, unquoted and ultimate holding companies. At least 20% of a company’s shares had to be owned by a private equity fund.

The research was carried out by Fast Track between August 2009 and 1 January 2010. The vast majority of companies were interviewed by telephone and/or visited by the Fast Track research team.

About Deloitte
With 12,000 people across the UK, Deloitte is renowned for its innovation, collaboration, industry expertise, and outstanding client service. Our depth of talent across our chosen disciplines – audit, tax, consulting and corporate finance – allows us to deliver a total solution to our clients, whatever their size, location or need.
www.deloitte.co.uk

About Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets
Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets’ acquisition finance team is a leading force in providing leveraged finance, supporting over 500 private equity transactions in the last 5 years. Our experts deliver flexible and imaginative solutions across all areas of the UK market.
www.lloydstsb.com/corporatemarkets

About UBS Wealth Management
UBS is one of the world’s leading providers of private banking services, and in the UK has more than 250 client advisers who focus on the needs of UK customers. UBS Wealth Management has developed and implemented many innovative wealth management strategies for UK entrepreneurs
www.ubs.com/uk

About Fast Track
Fast Track has 13 years’ experience publishing league tables ranking Britain’s top-performing private companies, and organising events for entrepreneurs to network and meet its sponsors. The company was founded and is run by Dr. Hamish Stevenson, who remains an associate fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford University.
www.fasttrack.co.uk

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