23 Feb 23
News

Lloyds Banking Group buys leaseco Tusker for £300m

Lloyds Banking Group buys leaseco Tusker for £300m

Lloyds Banking Group, the owner of the UK’s largest vehicle leasing company Lex Autolease, has bought Tusker, a vehicle management and leasing company that specialises in salary sacrifice schemes, for £300 million (€340m).

Tusker is a member of EV100, a group of companies committed to running a fully electric fleet by 2030. It operates a fleet of over 23,000 vehicles, of which 60% are electric, and employs 250 staff.

Salary sacrifice

Salary sacrifice is an employer-sponsored funding arrangement that enables all employees (not just company car drivers) to pay for an all-inclusive car, including finance, service, maintenance, insurance and breakdown cover, out of gross salary. This saves employees both tax and National Insurance - depending on the marginal tax rate of the individual, it can save a driver up to 40% on the cost of leasing a vehicle. Drivers do have to pay benefit in kind tax on their cars, as if they were company cars, but this is currently only 2% of the list price of a zero emission car.

These attractive terms have made it the fastest growing sector of the UK car leasing industry, increasing its volumes by more than 20% year-on-year according to the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association.

Nick Williams, Managing Director Transport, Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Alongside our Lex Autolease business, this acquisition allows Lloyds Banking Group to offer our products and services across a wider section of businesses and enterprises, enabling them to provide competitive benefits packages while helping them transition to net-zero.”

He added that the group’s strategy, outlined last year, is to grow its participation in vehicle leasing.

Paul Gilshan, CEO of Tusker (pictured above), said that with the strong financial support of Lloyds Banking Group: “We can grow our electric fleet faster by offering exceptional value to our customers, drivers and partners.”

Images: Tusker

Authored by: Jonathan Manning