Kaulkin Ginsberg Company today announced the acquisition of Great Lakes Collection Bureau, Inc. a unit of GE Capital Corporation, by NCO Group, Inc. (NasdaqNM:NCOG) and NCO Portfolio Management, Inc. (NASDAQ:NCPM). Kaulkin Ginsberg advised GE Capital on this transaction.
NCO Group paid approximately $10.6 million to acquire the net assets and related operations of Great Lakes Collection Bureau, Inc. NCO Portfolio Management, Inc. acquired the purchased accounts receivable portfolio of Great Lakes for $22.9 million. NCO Group owns 62% of NCO Portfolio. As part of the acquisition, NCO Group and GE Capital signed a multi-year agreement under which NCO Group will provide services to GE Capital.
Brian Greenberg, who co-managed the deal for Kaulkin Ginsberg, observed, “This divestiture was highly competitive as multiple suitors sought to acquire the three things that made this deal rare; Great Lakes’s sizeable portfolio of owned paper, its collection platform and an ongoing relationship. In the end, our client felt that NCO clearly emerged as the best buyer.”
“High level M&A activity in the accounts receivable management business is alive and well,” according to Mike Ginsberg, CEO of Kaulkin Ginsberg. “This deal marks the second major transaction we have advised on in the past 20 days and because of where we sit, we know more are coming.” On August 1, 2002 Kaulkin Ginsberg advised West Corporation (NASDAQ:WSTC) in its acquisition of Attention LLC. Ginsberg went on to say, “the industry has not seen this level of M&A activity since the 90′s and I fully expect it to continue, especially in light of the anticipated combination of more CRM companies and ARM firms, as well as heightened activity among other strategic and financial buyers. The fact is, in the first half of 2002, 21 ARM deals were completed, which is double the amount of deals done in the second half of 2001.”
About Kaulkin Ginsberg Company
Kaulkin Ginsberg Company, a leading M&A advisor to the Outsourced Business Services sector, has managed more than 80 ARM transactions with total values exceeding $2 billion. In addition to advising on acquisitions and divestitures, the firm has provided a gateway for those seeking a financial or strategic acquisition of a collection-related enterprise. The Kaulkin Ginsberg staff also conducts market research, consults on high-level projects, and publishes The Kaulkin Report, generally considered the most comprehensive report on the state of the collection industry. CollectionIndustry.com, the leading on-line content provider to the credit and collection industry, is a sister company of Kaulkin Ginsberg. More at www.Kaulkin.com
