View source for RAC Limited

{{Short description|British automotive services company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox company
 | name             = RAC Limited
 | logo             = File:Rac logo.svg
 | type             = [[Private company limited by shares|Private limited company]]
 | founder          = Frederick Simms
 | area_served      = United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland
 | key_people       = Rob Templeman<br>{{small|(Chairman)}}<br>Dave Hobday<br>{{small|(CEO)}}
 | industry         = Automotive services
 | genre            = 
 | products         = 
 | services         = Roadside assistance and insurance
 | revenue          = £501 million (2015)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.carlyle.com/sites/default/files/reports/carlyleccr2016_0.pdf|title=2016 Corporate Citizenship Report|access-date=5 October 2016|publisher=The Carlyle Group}}</ref>
 | operating_income = £95 million (2011)<ref name=annrep>{{cite web|url=http://www.rac.co.uk/pdfs/about-us/rac-group-annual-report-2011.aspx|title=Annual Report & Accounts 2011|access-date=15 October 2012|publisher=RAC Limited|archive-date=19 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019094855/http://www.rac.co.uk/pdfs/about-us/rac-group-annual-report-2011.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 | net_income       = 
 | owner            = [[CVC Capital Partners]] (50%)<br>[[GIC Private Limited]] (50%)
 | num_employees    = 3,700 (2011 average)<ref name=annrep/>
 | parent           = 
 | divisions        = 
 | subsid           = RAC Motoring Services Limited<br>RAC Financial Services Limited<br>RAC Insurance limited
 | footnotes        = 
 | foundation       = 1897
 | location_city    = [[Walsall]], [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]
 | location_country = [[United Kingdom]]
 | location         =  
 | locations        = 
 | caption          = 
 | homepage         = [http://www.rac.co.uk/  www.rac.co.uk]
 }}
'''RAC Limited''', called '''The RAC''', is a British automotive services [[Limited company|company]] headquartered in [[Walsall]], [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]. Its principal services are [[roadside assistance]] and general insurance, and its subsidiaries include RAC Motoring Services Ltd, RAC Financial Services Ltd and RAC Insurance Limited. It was a private club owned by its members until sold in 1999, eventually acquired in 2014 and 2015  by [[GIC Private Limited]] and [[CVC Capital Partners]]. In 2022 Silver Lake acquired a stake in the group while leaving GIC and CVC as major stakeholders.

The RAC's main competitors are [[The Automobile Association|The AA]] and [[Green Flag]].{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

==History==

[[File:1961RACAustinMinivan.jpg|thumb|1961 RAC Austin Mini Van]]
{{see also|Royal Automobile Club}}
The  [[Royal Automobile Club]] was formed in 1897 by [[Frederick Richard Simms]], which set up an "associate section" to provide members [[Breakdown Cover|roadside assistance]] and motoring services. The club incorporated the associate section as R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. in 1978. In 1987, the organisation introduced an "Advanced Computer Aided Rescue System".<ref name=hist/>

In 1991, it established the [[RAC Foundation]] as its research arm. The RAC Foundation was later turned into a charity, and received a legacy from Royal Automobile Club members when R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. was sold in 1999.<ref name=hist>{{cite web|url=http://www.racfoundation.org/about-us/history|title=History|publisher=RAC Foundation|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303230113/http://www.racfoundation.org/about-us/history|archive-date=3 March 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> [[British School of Motoring]] (BSM) was purchased by R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. in December 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.driving.co.uk/5a1.html|title=History of the British School of Motoring (BSM)|publisher=British School of Motoring|access-date=2010-02-26|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512144430/http://www.driving.co.uk/5a1.html|archive-date=12 May 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

[[File:rac.tower.arp.600pix.jpg|thumb|The [[RAC Regional Control Centre|RAC tower]] in [[Almondsbury]], [[Bristol]]]]
The RAC moved into the [[RAC Regional Control Centre]] adjacent to the [[Almondsbury Interchange]] in 1994, designed by [[Grimshaw Architects]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=StackPath |url=https://grimshaw.global/projects/workplace/rac-regional-control-centre/ |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=grimshaw.global}}</ref>

In 1999, R.A.C. Motoring Services was sold by the members of the Royal Automobile Club to Lex Service for £437m, with each of the 12,000 members receiving £34,000, and each of the 4,000 RAC Motoring Services staff receiving £1,000.<ref>{{cite news |title=Windfalls for RAC members and staff |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/332102.stm |access-date=25 October 2021 |work=BBC News |date=30 April 1999}}</ref>

Lex Service renamed themselves RAC plc in 2002. In October 2000, RAC purchased [[Intergraph]]'s Computer Aided Dispatch System (I/CAD), a Command and Control system.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2000/10/24/009263.html|title=RAC Motoring Services Signs 4 Million Pounds Sterling Contract With Intergraph Public Safety|publisher=The Auto Channel}}</ref> The National Customer Service Awards' recognized the system with the 'Best Use of Technology in Customer Service' award in October 2004.<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20041021005558/en/RAC-Wins-National-Technology-Customer-Service-Award#.U_MAustby70|title=RAC Wins National Best Use of Technology in Customer Service Award With Intergraph I/CAD Command and Control System|publisher=Business Wire}}</ref>

[[Aviva]] acquired RAC plc for around £1.1 billion in March 2005.<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8593571/Aviva-sells-RAC-for-1bn.html|title=Aviva sells RAC for £1bn|date=2011-06-23|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|access-date=2012-08-28|location=London}}</ref> They sold some parts of the business for £500m,<ref name=telegraph/> including RAC [[Auto Windscreens]] in December 2008, and [[British School of Motoring|BSM]] to a German company in January 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/city-news/2009/02/12/aviva-sell-bsm-to-german-firm-115875-21117355/|title=Aviva sell BSM to German firm|work=The Mirror|date=12 February 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/insurance/8475168/Aviva-drives-towards-RAC-sale.html|title=Aviva drives towards RAC sale|first=Helia|last=Ebrahimi|date=2011-04-27|newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=2012-08-28|location=London}}</ref> BSM was later sold to Acromas Holdings, which owns [[The Automobile Association]].

Aviva ceased providing loans under the RAC brand name in January 2008, and dissolved its partnership with [[The Co-operative Bank]]. Aviva sold the RAC to [[The Carlyle Group]] in June 2011.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2011/jun/23/rac-sold-to-us-private-equity-firm-carlyle|title=RAC sold to American private equity firm Carlyle for £1bn|work=The Guardian | location=London|first1=Richard|last1=Wachman|first2=Julia|last2=Kollewe|date=2011-06-23}}</ref> Although Carlyle had planned a stock market flotation for the RAC,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cityam.com/1411694185/rac-float-skids-road-gic-buys-stake|title=RAC float skids off the road as GIC buys stake|last=FitzGerald|first=Thomas|date=2014-09-26|access-date=2016-09-21}}</ref> in September 2014 Carlyle agreed to sell almost half its stake to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund [[GIC Private Limited]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/26296508-449b-11e4-bce8-00144feabdc0|title=Singapore's GIC poised to buy large RAC stake|last=Chassany|first=Anne-Sylvaine|date=2014-09-25|newspaper=Financial Times|issn=0307-1766|access-date=2016-09-21}}</ref> In December 2015, Carlyle agreed to sell its remaining stake to [[CVC Capital Partners]], in a transaction valuing the RAC at £1.4 billion.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/story/f1-shareholder-cvc-motors-to-1632bn8206-rac-deal-10337515|title=F1 Shareholder CVC Motors To £2bn RAC Deal|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-09-21}}</ref>

In 2022<ref>{{Cite web |title=RAC |url=https://www.silverlake.com/portfolio/rac/ |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=Silver Lake |language=en-US}}</ref> Silver Lake acquired a holding in RAC Group<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-06 |title=RAC Expands Partnership to Accelerate Next Phase of Digital and Data Enabled Growth |url=https://www.silverlake.com/rac-expands-partnership-to-accelerate-next-phase-of-digital-and-data-enabled-growth/ |access-date=2025-07-24 |website=Silver Lake |language=en-US}}</ref> but specific values were not publicly disclosed. 

==Services==

===Roadside assistance===
[[File:rac.van.arp.jpg|thumb|right|An RAC roadside assistance van]]
The RAC has around 2,000 patrols that attend 2.8 million breakdowns each year, this includes overseas breakdowns with RAC Europe. The RAC covers eight million roadside assistance customers, with 2.2 million individual members and 4.5 million corporate customers. Their breakdown assistance centres operate [[24/7]], and deal with approximately four millions calls a year.

They have introduced, for trial, two [[hybrid vehicles]], to cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rac.co.uk/about-us/|title=About us|publisher=RAC plc}}</ref> In May 2009, a survey by ''[[J.D. Power]]'' ranked the RAC highest in "satisfying roadside assistance customers" for the fourth consecutive year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://content4.businesscenter.jdpower.com/JDPAContent/CorpComm/News/content/Releases/pdf/2009265-ukra.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108063820/http://content4.businesscenter.jdpower.com/JDPAContent/CorpComm/News/content/Releases/pdf/2009265-ukra.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-01-08|title=JD Power survey|publisher=JD Power|access-date=2012-08-28}}</ref> RAC Europe is breakdown cover for customers from the United Kingdom that travel to Europe.

RAC Europe covers forty seven European countries, and provides English speaking Incident Managers, available twenty four hours a day to assist. The office is based near Lyon, in Villeurbanne, France.

===Other===
RAC Vehicle Checks and Examinations conduct vehicle checks that show if a car has been stolen, written off, has outstanding finance or previous plates, is at risk of being sold illegally, and that its number plate and chassis number correspond.

RAC Vehicle Checks are conducted by Experian, while RAC Examinations Inspectors make physical checks on the car to make sure it is mechanically and structurally sound. The RAC also provides travel and traffic services including online route planners, in car navigation and help with travel documents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.racnews.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=20 |title=RAC Products and Services |publisher=RAC plc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010164130/http://www.racnews.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=20 |archive-date=10 October 2007 }}</ref>

==Motorsport==
[[File:Colin Turkington BMW 2007.jpg|thumb|right|[[Colin Turkington]] driving for Team RAC [[BMW]] at [[Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit|Snetterton]]]]
{{Main|West Surrey Racing}}
In [[2006 British Touring Car Championship season|2006]], RAC teamed up with [[West Surrey Racing|WSR (West Surrey Racing)]] to form '''Team RAC''' and to race in the [[British Touring Car Championship]] (BTCC) with two [[MG ZS (2001)|MG ZS]] cars and from [[2007 British Touring Car Championship season|2007]] onwards, two (and sometimes three) [[BMW 3 Series (E90)#Special edition|BMW E90 320si]] cars. The racing cars were liveried in RAC's corporate orange and have achieved a number of wins, including winning the [[British Touring Car Championship|BTCC Independent Drivers Championship]] with [[Colin Turkington]] in [[2007 British Touring Car Championship season|2007]], [[2008 British Touring Car Championship season|2008]] and [[2009 British Touring Car Championship season|2009]].

Turkington was also able to clinch the outright win in the [[2009 British Touring Car Championship season|2009 BTCC Drivers Championship]] for Team RAC. For [[2010 British Touring Car Championship season|2010]], RAC reduced their level of sponsorship with the team.

==See also==
* [[The Automobile Association|The AA]]
* [[Green Flag]]
* [[Vehicle recovery]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.rac.co.uk The RAC]

{{Driving in the United Kingdom}}
{{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rac Plc}}
[[Category:Financial services companies established in 1978]]
[[Category:Transport companies established in 1978]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Automobile associations in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1978]]
[[Category:Emergency road services]]
[[Category:Driving in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1978 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:The Carlyle Group companies]]
[[Category:CVC Capital Partners companies]]