A poker-loving ex-policeman from Ayr appears poised for a £78m windfall after it emerged yesterday that a new suitor has entered the chase for his debt collection business.
Gordon Pollock, who founded Wescot Credit Services in Ayr in the early 1970s, is understood to be in talks to sell the firm to private equity firm Alchemy Partners for an estimated £90m ($169 million).
According to sources, the venture capital firm, run by Jon Moulton, has entered pole position to buy Westcot after the collapse of exclusive discussions between the debt collector and Hermes Private Equity.
Wescot has been growing at breakneck speed on the back of the explosion in consumer borrowing. Pollock, whose now Yorkshire-based firm has been used by many of the UK’s banks and credit card issuers to help collect debts, has seen profits soar from £4m ($7.5 million) to more than £10m ($18.77 million) in the space of two years.
For this complete story, please visit Large Deal for UK Collection Agency Gets New Life.
