SG Fleet buys LeasePlan ANZ

SG Fleet has bought the Australian and New Zealand operations of LeasePlan in a sale and leaseback deal.

The acquisition will create an AUD $2.5 billion company offering fleet management and leasing across Australia and New Zealand, with a combined 250,000 vehicles under management.

Subject to regulatory approval, the deal should be completed between July and September 2021.

This transformational transaction creates the ability to add scale across operations, funding and procurement activities. Greater scale will also allow us to step up our innovation efforts and create additional value for our customers.

Robbie Blau, CEO, SG Fleet

LeasePlan CEO, Tex Gunning, said that the international alliance with SG Fleet would allow the combined business to thrive, but also allow LeasePlan greater freedom to concentrate on subscription services – described by Gunning as a “megatrend” – and allow the company to increase profitable growth in its core markets.

In SG Fleet’s latest H1 2021 results, the company said it had a fleet of 143,697 vehicles. Its UK operation was seeing strong interest in sale & leaseback “to assist customer cash flow management”, while its Novalease personal leasing and salary sacrifice product had added a potential pool of more than 40,000 people.

While SG Fleet has occasionally sought funding alliances with brokers in the UK, it’s certainly not a main funder.

Chris Salmon, commercial director of SG Fleet in the UK said that UK customers would see no immediate change. However, he added:

Over time, SG Fleet UK customers can expect to benefit from an enhanced products and services range, plus access to additional expertise and know-how from an experienced global business. SG Fleet UK suppliers may be able to benefit from a wider range of supply requirements.