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Relax assets bought for £2.7m
By David Blackwell
Published: December 4 2009 02:00 | Last updated: December 4 2009 02:00
ClearDebt, the Aim-quoted consumer debt specialist, is to buy most of the assets of Relax Group from administration for £2.7m cash.
David Mond, founder and chief executive of ClearDebt , appointed Kay Johnson Gee as administrators a fortnight ago after acquiring the debt owed by Relax to Barclays, thought to be about £4.7m. At the time Mr Mond said he was acting as a private investor and that ClearDebt's board had made no decision on whether to try to buy any of Relax's businesses.
The move comes only a day after Accuma announced plans to leave Aim through a £5m management buy-out.
All three companies helped to form a new sector on the junior market three years ago as providers of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs), under which overstretched consumers are able to pay an agreed proportion of their total debts, usually over five years.
However, a tougher stance by the banks sent the industry into a tailspin in early 2007. Some companies, including Accuma , have sold their IVA businesses.
ClearDebt is buying 2,700 IVAs alongside 1,300 protected trust deeds (PTDs), the Scottish equivalent. It will also acquire 2,800 debt management plans (DMPs).
The acquisitions will be a substantial boost to ClearDebt, which has remained a micro-cap throughout its five years on Aim. The shares closed up 0.78p at 2.53p yesterday, leaving its market capitalisation below £6m.
For the year to June the company reported an increase in the number of IVAs from 247 to 483. It also had 2,939 DMPs in place at the end of August. Revenue rose from £1.87m to £3.4m, generating a maiden pre-tax profit of £460,000.
The company said it was paying about 40 per cent of the £6.3m book value of the assets as shown in Relax's last accounts.
The board saw the acquisition as an "opportunity to expand its operations in the growing IVA and debt management sector". However, it did not intend to attribute such a high value to the assets in its own accounts.
Source: Financial Times
By David Blackwell
Published: December 4 2009 02:00 | Last updated: December 4 2009 02:00
ClearDebt, the Aim-quoted consumer debt specialist, is to buy most of the assets of Relax Group from administration for £2.7m cash.
David Mond, founder and chief executive of ClearDebt , appointed Kay Johnson Gee as administrators a fortnight ago after acquiring the debt owed by Relax to Barclays, thought to be about £4.7m. At the time Mr Mond said he was acting as a private investor and that ClearDebt's board had made no decision on whether to try to buy any of Relax's businesses.
The move comes only a day after Accuma announced plans to leave Aim through a £5m management buy-out.
All three companies helped to form a new sector on the junior market three years ago as providers of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs), under which overstretched consumers are able to pay an agreed proportion of their total debts, usually over five years.
However, a tougher stance by the banks sent the industry into a tailspin in early 2007. Some companies, including Accuma , have sold their IVA businesses.
ClearDebt is buying 2,700 IVAs alongside 1,300 protected trust deeds (PTDs), the Scottish equivalent. It will also acquire 2,800 debt management plans (DMPs).
The acquisitions will be a substantial boost to ClearDebt, which has remained a micro-cap throughout its five years on Aim. The shares closed up 0.78p at 2.53p yesterday, leaving its market capitalisation below £6m.
For the year to June the company reported an increase in the number of IVAs from 247 to 483. It also had 2,939 DMPs in place at the end of August. Revenue rose from £1.87m to £3.4m, generating a maiden pre-tax profit of £460,000.
The company said it was paying about 40 per cent of the £6.3m book value of the assets as shown in Relax's last accounts.
The board saw the acquisition as an "opportunity to expand its operations in the growing IVA and debt management sector". However, it did not intend to attribute such a high value to the assets in its own accounts.
Source: Financial Times
