The British School of Motoring (BSM) has been bought in a management buyout.

The buyout means it is more likely the company will press ahead with increasing its fleet of Fiat cars.

This is the third time in past four years that BSM has changed hands.

Aviva bought the business in May 2005 only to sell it to Arques Industries in February 2009.

Now joint managing directors Abu-Haris Shafi and Nikolai Kesting, who have been heading the company since Arques Industries took over the business earlier this year, have bought the motoring school in a deal worth £10 million.

It was never revealed how much Arques paid for BSM in February.

The only details shown at the time were that BSM’s gross assets were valued at £36m.

However, it is not unusual for Arques, a specialist in buying ailing companies and quickly turning them around, to offload an acquisition within a short time of buying it.

BSM recently dropped Vauxhall as its vehicle supplier in favour of Fiat, which has seen its car fleet change to the Fiat 500.

Fiat is supplying some 14,000 cars over the next four years – 3,500 every year.

It also recently secured a four-year financial partnership with Barclays Commercial Bank.

The pair said they want to double the number of BSM instructors to 6,000 within two years.

Abu-Haris Shafi said: "We are excited to be taking this strong British brand forward and continuing its growth.”

Felix Frohn-Bernau, Arques board member added: “This is the ideal time for us to sell and for Abu and Nikolai to take full ownership of the British School of Motoring and continue to take the company to the next level.

"They have been successful in growing the business over the last nine months and securing important partnerships to enable its future success.”