European ARM Giant Lindorff Acquires Collection Unit of Spanish Bank

Lindorff, one of the largest debt collection companies in the world, announced today that it has purchased the debt recovery unit of Spanish bank Sabadell for €162 million ($218 million). The agreement calls for Lindorff to exclusively handle Banco Sabadell’s past-due loans for a period of at least 10 years.

Sabadell, one of the largest banks in Spain, has some 2,400 offices and branches and employs more than 18,000 people. The 133-year old bank has been looking to offload some of its non-core assets to address mounting debt.

Lindorff has been growing rapidly in the European ARM space as it has scooped up both native and standalone debt collection and portfolio purchasing operations on the continent. In 2012, the company reported net revenues of $672 million. Lindorff currently has 3,000 employees in 11 countries.

Lindorff was recently sold by the investment banking partnership that owned the firm. Altor and Investor AB in mid-July announced the proposed sale of their controlling interest in Lindorff to another investment group, Nordic Capital, for an enterprise value of $3 billion. Altor and Investor AB will collectively retain about $423 million in equity in Lindorff after the deal closes.