Debt collector Cabot confirms €1bn flotation
The firm, which is owned by US debt recovery business Encore Capital Group and private equity group JC Flowers, said it aimed to raise around £195m in fresh capital adding to a flurry of floats on London’s main stock market since the start of October.
Admission is expected to take place in November, Cabot said, adding that it would have a free float of at least 25%.
Cabot had hoped to announce its intention to float in September, but postponed it after Peter Crook, the former chief executive of Provident Financial, stepped down from its board.
The debt collector, which had planned to appoint Crook as its chairman in preparation for the London listing, said yesterday that Andy Haste who is also chairman of British lender Wonga, would be its chairman elect.
Mr Crook left Provident after more than a decade in August following a profit warning by the British subprime lender, its second in two months, which sparked a 66% share price fall.
Provident also suspended its dividend and disclosed that the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority was investigating a product sold by its Vanquis Bank business.
It is understood that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and private equity firm Apax Partners had expressed interest in buying Cabot this year, although the talks did not develop.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Jefferies and Numis are managing the float.
Encore said in February, that it was considering floating Cabot, saying it believed such a move would crystallise the value it has created within the business.
Encore said at the time that it believed Cabot’s equity value had grown through operational improvement, market consolidation and overseas expansion.
Cabot has operations in the UK, Ireland and Spain and runs a number of brands, including the Mortimer Clarke firm of solicitors, debt collection agency DLC and the Apex debt collections business.
