In an effort to help it continue to focus on its key markets, which include the United States, Encore Capital Group has completed the sale of Baycorp to Credit Corp Group. Baycorp specialized in the “management of non-performing loans in Australia and New Zealand,” and provided “portfolio management services for non-performing debts,” according to Encore.
Credit Corp Group purchases portfolios and is a debt collection company based in Sydney, Australia.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Baycorp was Encore’s last remaining platform outside of the U.S. and the United Kingdom, which the company said will be the markets it primarily focuses on moving forward. The returns generated by Baycorp were “not significant” to Encore’s overall financial performance, the company said.
“Today’s transaction is another meaningful step for Encore as we focus our company and its resources on the U.S. and the U.K., the two most important markets in our industry,” said Ashish Masih, Encore’s President and Chief Executive, in a statement. “Last year we acquired the remaining interest in Cabot to increase our focus on Europe, and in particular on the U.K., where our debt buying and servicing capabilities comprise one of the industry’s strongest platforms. At the same time, conditions in our core U.S. market have improved and are providing higher returns. Further, given the credit cycle and the rise in consumer indebtedness in both the U.S. and U.K., we believe both markets are poised for an increase in supply. Accordingly, we prioritized the divestiture of Baycorp in order to focus on market leadership in the U.S. and U.K.”