02 June 2023

Netherlands retail giant Van Mossel has announced its first UK acquisition, for the multi-brand group Jacksons.

It is Van Mossel’s second major deal outside Benelux, following its recent acquisition of Germany’s Hugo Pfohe.

Jacksons has six locations and 500 employees. It represents 29 brands and is the largest multi-brand retailer in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight. Its retail brands include Jacksons, Motor Mall and Esplanade.

The deal is expected to complete by the end of July.

With sales of €250m (£215m), Jacksons calls itself one of the largest retailer groups in the UK. It has a volume of around 6,000 cars a year.

The deal is on a similar scale to Hugo Pfohe, which has a €300m (£258m) turnover.

“We have been negotiating for a significant period of time,” revealed Jacksons CEO Paul Collier. “Van Mossel is a leading automotive group in Europe and a significant reinforcement of our operations.

“All employees will be retained… [and] the proven concept of Van Mossel allows us to offer our customers more and more services under one roof in the future.”

Van Mossel growth strategy

The acquisitions, said Van Mossel CEO Eric Berkhof, are part of the retailer’s European growth strategy.

“The acquisition of the Jacksons Group is another step in the ongoing evolution of Van Mossel Automotive Group.”

Berkhof praised the work of Collier and added “we believe that we can further enhance it by investing more in facilities and product offerings, so that island customers can benefit from competitive offerings within the automotive sector,”

Van Mossel is the largest retail group in the Netherlands, with a turnover of €4.5bn (£3.9bn). It has 349 branches in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and Luxemburg.

The group, which boasts more than 5,200 employees, sells around 150k new and used cars annually. It also has a lease fleet of 110k vehicles.

Tags: Eric Berkhof, Hugo Pfohe, Jacksons, Van Mossel