The board of Aforti Holding S.A. (“the Company”, “the Issuer”) headquartered in Warsaw hereby announces to the public that on 10th August 2018 a subsidiary of the Company: Aforti Collections S.A. headquartered in Warsaw (“the Subsidiary”, “Aforti Collections”) has concluded a contract (hereinafter: “Agreement”) for the purchase of 300 shares with a par value of PLN 1,000.00 each, representing 76.92% of the share capital of a company from the debt collection industry: LifeBelt sp. o.o. with its registered office in Lublin (hereinafter: “LifeBelt”).
The Issuer does not disclose the value of the transaction because of the trade secrets of the transaction applicable to both sides.
In connection with the concluded Agreement, the following companies: LifeBelt and Aforti Collections plan in the fourth quarter of this year make the connection process to use synergy and mutual exchange of their competitive advantages. LifeBelt will complement the structures of Aforti Collections by including an experienced team of managers, as well as by providing an innovative, proprietary IT system that allows effective service for both large companies and entrepreneurs from the SME sector, offering B2B services. At the same time LifeBelt will gain a professional commercial department and a shared services center (IT support, accounting and HR services, legal and marketing services), which were previously outsourced by this company. Following the legal finalization of the merger of both entities, their activities will be carried out under the common brand: Aforti Collections S.A..
Combination of the above companies will strengthen the position of Aforti Colections on the debt collection market and will allow for the transfer of solutions used in the recovery of mass claims to the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
Aforti Collections will also develop a common commercial strategy that will take into account the know-how and experience of both companies in the debt collection industry.
LifeBelt, which began operations in January 2015, is an entity specializing in providing services related to receivables management, amicable debt collection, direct and court enforcement, industrial espionage and detective services. LifeBelt has an experienced and qualified team of 70 specialists. In 2017, LifeBelt serviced a debt portfolio worth PLN 789 million, while in the first half of 2018 this value amounted to almost PLN 220 million.
The company’s clients include well-known loan firms, leasing company, bank, debt servicing companies and companies from the marketing industry.
Conclusion of the Agreement constitutes the implementation of the Aforti Group’s development strategy for 2018-2020 in terms of development of subsidiaries’ structures in Poland.
Legal basis: Article 17 paragraph 1 of the MAR – confidential information