Intrum Justitia acquires Austrian debt portfolio

Intrum Justitia and the French investment bank Calyon S.A. together have acquired an Austrian portfolio of written-off receivables with an aggregate outstanding principal of EUR 640 million (approximately SEK 6 billion). The seller is Bank Austria Creditanstalt.

In total, the purchase price amounts to approximately EUR 100 million, of which Intrum Justitia’s share is EUR 35 million, or approximately SEK 330 million. Two thirds of the portfolio consists of nonperforming bank loans with an average principal of EUR 14,000 per receivable, while one third is comprised of bank loans granted against collateral in the form of real estate property or a real estate share. The analysis and evaluation of the entire portfolio has been conducted in accordance with Intrum Justitia’s regular principles and yield requirements.

Intrum Justitia has previously worked successfully with Calyon regarding purchases of bank portfolios in the Nordic countries. Intrum Justitia has also gained experience from several other Nordic portfolios containing collateral in the form of real estate properties, while Calyon is a leading investor in mortgage backed debts portfolio in other European countries.

During 2007, Intrum Justitia’s operations in Austria, Germany and Switzerland have been coordinated and now share infrastructure and certain key resources. This so-called regionalization ensures a cost efficient and flexible process that builds on the methods developed in Switzerland, which will be leveraged on in conjunction with the current acquisition.

The acquired portfolio is estimated to attribute to Intrum Justitia’s revenue with approximately 3 percent in 2008.