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Arrow Global strengthens its presence in Italy with two acquisitions in the NPL segment
19 March, Blasting News
New M&A operations in the Italian credit management sector, and in the banking sector more in general. Once again, it’s an international player acquiring two Italian companies.
Arrow Global, a company quoted in the London Stock Exchange with a significant presence in several European countries, has acquired the Italian companies Parr Credit and Europa Investimenti. The markets have reacted positively to the news reporting a +11%.
The Arrow strategy
As stated by the Ceo Lee Rochford, the consolidation of the presence of Arrown in Italy is aimed at catching the opportunities offered by a market valued around 300 billion in terms of bad loans.
However, Arrow will adopt a selective approach with the aim of placing itself with a relevant presence only on some specific segments that the company believes can provide high returns. Therefore, it’s unlikely that the company will operate on the whole spectrum of the NPL market in Italy.
The companies acquired are Parr Credit and Europa Investimenti. The former is a leading company operating in phone collection and customer service outsourcing, with contracts with several telecommunication and utility companies. The latter operates in the special situations segment with a focus on bankruptcy and winding-up proceedings. The double operation follows the acquisition last year of Zenith Service Spa, among the main operators in the master servicing segment concerning securitisation operations.
The Italian M&A trend
Italy is the first market for NPLs, thus the country is particularly attracting for many international players that look at these assets as an investment as well as an opportunity for servicing activities. In addition, the pressure coming from the regulating authorities to reduce the NPL stock, which has decreased despite still being above the European average level, has brought to an increase in number and volume of opportunities. M&A operations confirm to be the current trend, with the purchase of local platforms and spin-offs of management platforms.
Source: Blasting News
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi