SAV Credit

SAV Credit logo

Invested:
April 2002

Exited:
November 2011

Return:
1.8x MoC / IRR 11%

Sector:
Financial Services

Stage:
Mid (core strategy)

Headquarters:
Kings Hill, UK

Region:
UK

Business:
Specialist credit card issuer

 

Business at time of investment

SAV Credit (“SAV”), established in 2001, was a pioneering specialist credit card lending in the UK, catering for consumers often overlooked by mainstream financial service providers. 

Investment rationale

Palamon identified the UK as an attractive macro-environment for specialist credit card businesses as there was a large and unaddressed non-standard credit card market in the UK consists of an estimated 21% of the UK’s adult population (approximately 8 million people) who fail the standard underwriting rules of mainstream issuers. Palamon backed the management team to develop the sophisticated under-writing techniques to operate profitably in this market and build out a market leading position.

Value creation

  • Supported the development of the business from its founder-led roots to the leading independent UK credit card issuer

    • Provided equity financing and brought in co-investor capital to fund the organic and inorganic growth phases of the business

  • Built out the management team: recruited new CEO, new CFO and senior executives and Non-Executive Directors

  • Risk management: Developed proprietary underwriting, targeting and line management models, building out the book to 150,000 accounts in three years.

  • Accelerated growth through M&A: Following a period of organic growth Palamon realised the opportunity to acquire non-performing portfolios in the challenging post-crisis markets

    • Acquired the Marbles portfolio from HSBC in October 2007 for £385 million and 338,000 accounts

    • Acquired large Citigroup portfolio in 2010, for £835 million in customer balances and 539,000 accounts.

Company at Exit

As a result of strict underwriting and credit management discipline, SAV thrived throughout the financial crisis, experiencing virtually no deterioration in its charge-offs while seeing profits grow rapidly as a result of its increased scale. By 2011, SAV was built into the UK’s leading non-standard credit card provider managing 500,000 credit card accounts with more than £600 million in credit card assets.

Result

On 3 November 2011, Palamon sold SAV to Värde Partners, a US hedge fund. The sale valued SAV at an EV of £472 million.