TUSKER, the salary sacrifice car scheme experts, has a new major shareholder – private equity group ECI Partners – to support the company’s growth plans.
Previous investors, Smedvig Capital, have exited.
ECI is a successful private equity group and specialises in mid-market, high-growth companies.
Commenting on the new financial structure, Tusker’s CEO, David Hosking said:
“This is a very exciting time for us. The team at Smedvig have provided real and valuable hands on support throughout our growth years, and we are grateful for all of their input. Tusker is now a substantial business generating revenues in excess of £100m and we are excited to have ECI as our new partner. Their depth of experience and extensive level of engagement with our team will provide a great platform from which we can continue our exceptional growth.”
The existing management team of David Hosking (Chief Executive Officer), David Brockwell (Chief Financial Officer), Mark Sinclair (Chief Operations Officer) and Iain Carmichael (Chief Commercial Officer) will remain in place. They will be joined by the newly appointed Chairman Richard Prosser, who replaces Sir Trevor Chinn who is stepping down.
“We are very excited to welcome Richard to the team. He joins Tusker with a wealth of business to business experience gained in the travel industry (most recently as Non-executive Chairman of former ECI investment, CarTrawler). We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Sir Trevor Chinn who has supported the company through its recent growth and has been instrumental in getting Tusker to this point,” said David Hosking.
The senior management team is supported by a growing employee base that is structured to put the customer first, and the focus on exceptional customer service will remain a core value of the business. Since launching its market leading salary sacrifice for cars product in 2008, Tusker now manages in excess of 13,000 vehicles and this figure is expected to increase by 30% over the next twelve months.
Rob Toms, Managing Director at Smedvig Capital, said: “Smedvig only invest in a small number of exceptional businesses each year, where we firmly believe in the team, the model, and the market leadership potential. We are proud to have worked with Tusker to build the salary sacrifice product and develop a clear market leadership position.”
Paul McCreadie, a partner at ECI, concluded: “The team at Tusker provides an excellent fit with ECI and we were particularly attracted by the company’s innovative and market leading culture. Tusker has an exceptional management team and we are looking forward to working together to continue to grow and develop the business.”
