Thu, 20 Feb 2020 | BUSINESS SALE
Online used car service Heycar has purchased the independent motoring advice website HonestJohn.co.uk from administrators for an undisclosed sum.
Peterborough-based HonestJohn.co.uk went into administration last month after encountering cash flow difficulties, appointing Miles Needham and Simon Carvill-Biggs of advisory firm FRP.
Needham and Carvill-Biggs have subsequently led the sale to Heycar. The business was sold as a going concern and no jobs were lost.
Heycar CEO Mat Moakes said that the deal would help forward its aim of improving “trust and transparency for motorists and the industry.”
HonestJohn.co.uk has been operating for around two decades and has millions of site visitors. Heycar was launched in 2019 and has already amassed over 170,000 cars on its site, as well as 3,500 franchised dealers selling via their platform.
Moakes added that: “The independence and strong reputation of HonestJohn.co.uk has been earned through the years and brings great value – just some of the many reasons that this was such an attractive opportunity.
“We will maintain this independence through the formation of a clear editorial code between the two brands, continuing the impartial tone HonestJohn.co.uk’s millions of website visitors and tens of thousands of newsletter subscribers expect. Users of the Honest John forum will not notice any difference.”
HonestJohn.co.uk’s most recent accounts, for the year ending December 31 2018, show it holding assets of over £300,000, with retained earnings for the year at nearly £67,000.
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