Online car seller Cazoo set for $7bn Wall Street listing

Cazoo is going public via a merger with Ajax I, an $805m special-purpose acquisition company (Spac) owned by billionaire US investor Dan Och.

Founder Alex Chesterman will net an estimated £1.3bn through his 25% stake in the company. The owners of the right-wing Daily Mail tabloid newspaper will also pick up £1.35bn after investing £117m.

Founded less than two years ago, Cazoo lets customers buy cars online which are then delivered to their doorstep. It employs more than 1,800 people across the UK, Germany France and Portugal and said it is expecting to report revenues of up to $1bn for 2021, a 300% jump compared with a year earlier.

Cazoo owns and reconditions all its cars before offering them for sale on its website for either delivery or collection in as little as 72 hours.

“This announcement is another major milestone in our continued drive to transform the way people buy cars across Europe,” Chesterman said. “We have created the most comprehensive and fully integrated offering in the largest retail sector which currently has very low digital penetration.”