Houlihan Lokey Advises Lowell

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to have advised Lowell on the sale of its Payments business unit in the Nordics to Sweden-based Collector Bank AB for an undisclosed amount. The transaction closed on November 18, 2018.

Europe's second largest credit management company, Lowell, announced the divestment of its Nordics Payments business unit. The buyer is Sweden-based Collector Bank with offices in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. It is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Large-Cap list.

Since 2011, the Payments business unit has established a strong client franchise with some of the leading retailers in Finland and Sweden and has handled millions of transactions for online and traditional stores alike. The decision to divest is based on Lowell's ambition to create value and focus on its core business services of third party collection, debt purchasing, and the related invoicing and information services.

Collector Bank provides financing solutions to private individuals and corporate customers in Sweden, Finland, and Norway. Under this new ownership, this business unit will join a group where it will form part of the core offering and serve to strengthen Collector Bank's position in payment solutions in the Nordics.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Lowell. This most recent transaction further strengthens Houlihan Lokey's leadership in the specialty finance universe and highlights continued momentum and leadership in the FIG sector, which includes specialist finance, fintech, insurance, and asset and wealth management. Recent transactions include the sale of Optimum Credit to Pepper Money, Close Brothers Retail Finance to Klarna, Titlestone Property Finance to Paragon Banking Group, BIK Brokers to Pollen Street Capital, and Masthaven's £60 million capital investment from Värde Partners.