In the process of announcing its financial report for the first quarter of 2021, FICO — the company behind the original credit score — announced it was divesting itself of its debt collection and recovery business, selling it to Constellation’s Jonas Software, an enterprise management software company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The leaders of the Collection and Recovery business at FICO will join Jonas and remain as the product line’s executive managers.
FICO’s Collection and Recovery products “automate the lifecycle of consumer collections and recovery, including early collections, late collections, asset disposal, agency placement and optimization, recovery, litigation, bankruptcy, asset management, and residual balance recovery,” according to a press release announcing the deal. The specific products included in the deal are: Debt Manager™, Platinum, RMS (Recovery Management System), Placement Optimizer℠, PlacementsPlus®, and Agency Management Network.
“We are proud of the FICO team that built and delivered these industry-leading products our clients rely on to make their collection and recovery processes efficient and effective,” said Will Lansing, CEO of FICO, in a statement. “We are confident that Jonas will continue to invest in these solutions and support our clients and colleagues with the same commitment and partnership those clients and colleagues have come to expect.”
FICO said in its earnings report that the sale will have an “immaterial” effect on the company’s future financial performance. The business line contributed less than 10% of the company’s total revenues, which were $331 million in the quarter, up from $308 million in the same quarter a year ago. FICO said it plans to use the proceeds from the sale to help fund a $200 million share repurchase program.
“We look forward to maintaining the standard of excellence that FICO has instilled in their solutions,” said Matt Otchet, Group CEO at Jonas, in a statement. “The Jonas team is excited to induct the Collection and Recovery business into our portfolio.”