14 February 2020
Silverfleet invests in credit management services provider, Collectia
Collectia provides debt collection and debt purchase services to over 13,000 corporate customers in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany
Silverfleet Capital, the European private equity firm, has acquired a majority stake in Collectia A/S, (“Collectia” or the “Company”), a credit management services provider based in Denmark. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Brøndby, Collectia is a fast-growing debt collection and debt purchase business operating primarily in Denmark with a niche presence in Sweden, Norway and Germany. The Company employs over 175 staff and serves approximately 13,000 corporate customers across over 600,000 active cases.
With its sophisticated proprietary technology platform, credit database and advanced data analytics capabilities, Collectia is a highly-differentiated business with significant potential to build market share in both existing and new markets. In recent years Collectia has diversified beyond its core debt collection business by increasing its exposure to debt purchasing and launching a credit control service for the Danish market, where the Company provides credit score information to its customers. In addition, Collectia has made several acquisitions to expand its presence across the Nordic region and in Germany.
The investment in Collectia builds on Silverfleet’s extensive experience in the Financial Services sector and complements the firm’s strategy of leveraging attractive macro dynamics – in this case increasing regulation. New Danish and EU-wide regulation is driving continued outsourcing of debt collection to specialist service providers such as Collectia. Furthermore, Collectia expects that additional new regulation will result in increasing volumes of non-performing loan or debtor portfolios being sold by banks and businesses to specialists in the coming years.
Silverfleet’s investment will enable Collectia to accelerate its growth trajectory by using its superior technology to develop further its debt collection processes; scale its debt purchase operations; and continue its expansion internationally through selective acquisitions in attractive niche verticals.
Mark Piasecki, Partner at Silverfleet Capital, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with Collectia, a tech-enabled leader in its core Danish market with multiple opportunities to grow both domestically and internationally. We look forward to working closely with the Company’s talented management team to build on the current success and fulfil its potential.”
Christian la Cour Valentin, CEO of Collectia, adds: “We are excited to have found in Silverfleet strategic partners who share our vision for the future of Collectia. Their understanding and appreciation of the unique strengths of our business coupled with their experience, capital and relationships mean they are well placed to accelerate our growth strategy.”
Collectia represents Silverfleet’s 11th investment from its current fund, adding to a portfolio containing companies headquartered in the UK, France, Benelux, the Nordics and Germany.
The Silverfleet team that worked on the transaction included Mark Piasecki, Karl Eidem, Robert Knight, Johan Boork and Farhad Tatar.
Silverfleet was advised by Houlihan Lokey (M&A), Deloitte (Debt advisory, commercial, financial and tax), Bruun & Hjejle, Travers Smith & Macfarlanes (legal), Rud Pedersen (regulatory), BearingPoint (IT) and Quantum Data Analytics (financial). Debt finance was provided by Alcentra and Sydbank.