August 19 (SeeNews) - Norwegian debt solutions provider B2Holding has signed an agreement to sell its Bulgarian subsidiary, Debt Collection Agency (DCA), to a local Special Purpose Vehicle company, for 48.4 million euro ($48.7 million), it said on Friday.
The total proceeds from the sale after adjustments represent close to 100% of the book value of the portfolios, B2Holding said in a statement.
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The closing of the transaction is subject to relevant regulatory approvals in Bulgaria and is expected in October.
"The sale of DCA Bulgaria is another important step in reducing our geographical footprint and redeploying capital in our core markets to further drive scalability in the group," Erik Johnsen, CEO of B2Holding, said in the statement.
The transaction will trigger a non-cash impairment of 105 million Norwegian crowns after tax. This is mainly related to goodwill, the company added.
B2Holding's operating profit in Southeast Europe (SEE) jumped to 181 million crowns in 2021 from 61 million crowns in the previous year. SEE operations, which comprise Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus, generated total revenues of 535 million crowns last year, compared to 379 million crowns in 2020, the holding company has said.
B2Holding's total revenue from purchased loan portfolios in SEE rose to 375 million crowns in 2021 from 325 million crowns in 2020. Purchased loan portfolios in SEE amounted to 1.56 billion crowns at the end of 2021, down from 1.84 billion crowns a year earlier.
DCA started operating in Bulgaria in 2010 and was acquired by B2Holding in 2016.
B2Holding has platforms in more than twenty European countries.
($=0.9943 euro)