RAC today announced that Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing, has entered into an agreement to become a co-shareholder alongside RAC's longstanding shareholders, GIC and CVC Strategic Opportunities I, a longer term investment fund managed by CVC Capital Partners ("CVC").
RAC is the UK's leading breakdown assistance provider delivering Complete Peace Of Mind to approximately 13 million personal and business members. Headquartered in Birmingham and employing over 4,000 colleagues nationwide, RAC has been at the forefront of UK motoring for over 120 years and provides a differentiated range of driving and mobility-related services including breakdown assistance and insurance products.
GIC and CVC have been major shareholders in RAC since 2014 and 2016 respectively, and will remain so alongside Silver Lake. Under GIC and CVC's ownership, RAC has become the UK's #1 breakdown assistance provider, adding nearly 4 million members since 2016 and growing EBITDA at a 7% CAGR to £249 million for the 12 months ended 30 June 2021.
Silver Lake brings unparalleled technology expertise, skills and relationships to RAC. Alongside GIC and CVC, Silver Lake plans to support RAC in its goal of further improving its digital capabilities, and leveraging its wealth of data to provide even more innovative products and services for RAC members and partners to accelerate RAC's growth.
Dave Hobday, CEO of RAC said: "We have a strong and sustainable track record of growth across our member and corporate partner base. A history of investment over many decades, including our unique EV roadside charging capability and MyRAC, our digital app and subscription platform, means we are perfectly positioned at the heart of motoring, driving and mobility services. With these foundations in place, and with Silver Lake, as one of the most respected leaders in technology now sitting alongside CVC and GIC, we have a fantastic opportunity to accelerate our investment trajectory and provide more digitally enabled products, while continuing to deliver an even better service to our breakdown and insurance members. I am really excited to welcome Silver Lake to the RAC family, and very much look forward to the next stage of our journey together."
Simon Patterson, Silver Lake Managing Director and Co-Head of EMEA said: "RAC is a strong brand, and the company has been known for a long time for its quality of service and focus on the customer. CEO Dave Hobday and his team have adopted an ambitious plan to invest in digital technologies to further improve the offering and relationships with customers, and we look forward to assisting them implement it."
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in late Q4 2021. BofA Securities and Goldman Sachs International acted as financial advisers, and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as legal advisor, to RAC. J.P. Morgan acted as financial advisor and Baker McKenzie as legal advisor to Silver Lake.