International Debt Buying: Big Deals Announced in Brazil and the UK

Two announcements about international debt buying hit the ARM industry Friday, both involving major consumer credit markets.

Norwegian debt buyer and collector Aktiv Kapital said that it has entered into an agreement with a “leading global financial Institution” to purchase more than $360 million in unsecured, non-performing consumer debt on a forward flow basis. The portfolio will consist of some 43,000 accounts from consumers in the United Kingdom.

In Brazil, non-performing loan specialist Jive Investments announced that it would be purchasing about $600 million in distressed loans from Lehman Brothers.

Jive, which focuses on mainly distressed corporate assets, bought Lehman’s Brazilian loan investment operation in late 2010, in the wake of the Wall Street titan’s bankruptcy.  Those investments were primarily bad commercial debt.

But the announcement made Friday noted that the new purchase will include delinquent consumer loans.