Founded in the Netherlands in 1963 following a joint venture between a bank and a company providing services to drivers, LeasePlan initially specialised in the open-book management model. LeasePlan expanded internationally in the 1970s by establishing operations in Belgium, Germany, France, and Great Britain. In 1985, the banking group ABN-Amro acquired 100% of the shares in LeasePlan and founded a holding company named ABN-Amro Lease Holding. LeasePlan diversified its offer by introducing an online fleet management software package. Responding to the trend in market consolidation, LeasePlan acquired several companies in the years following 2000. In 2003, the holding company of the LeasePlan Group was renamed LeasePlan Corporation. In 2004, ABN-Amro sold LeasePlan Corporation to a consortium consisting of the Volkswagen Group, Olayan Group, and Mubadala Development Company. On 21 March 2016, an international consortium led by the Dutch Stichting Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn pension fund completed its acquisition of the company. In 2017, the company announced it was exploring strategic alternatives for the business, that included a potential Initial Public Offering.
International presence
LeasePlan, present in over 30 countries, became the first company in the leasing industry to manage more than 1.8 million cars worldwide, and offer fleet management services. LeasePlan is present in both traditional and emerging markets.
Countries
The following is a list of countries where LeasePlan is established:
LeasePlan Europe
Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, :es:LeasePlan España|Spain, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Romania and Turkey.
LeasePlan UK
LeasePlan UK was created in 1979. The company operates a fleet of over 137,000 vehicles including over 38,000 commercial vehicles. Major clients include NHS, Virgin Media and Carlsberg. It also sells off-lease vehicles to wholesalers and through its new unit. Awards the company has earned include Fleet News leasing company of the year 2016 and Green Fleet leasing company of the year 2016.
LeasePlan Bank is a Dutch internet savings bank and an undertaking of LeasePlan. LeasePlan Bank was established in 2010 to provide an additional source of financing for LeasePlan's core business.