Paragon Ord Share Price (0NFG)

The Paragon Group of Companies, a specialist buy-to-let and consumer finance group, has closed early the offer period for the issue of six per cent unsecured sterling retail bonds. The total nominal amount of the notes that are to issued is £60m. The issue of the notes was announced on February 13th, and was originally scheduled to close on February 26th. Nigel Terrington, the Chief Executive of Paragon, said: "We are delighted with the success of our debut retail bond. The positive response from investors demonstrates the attractiveness of Paragon. The bond complements our already strong balance sheet, allows us to diversify our funding base and extend the tenor of our borrowings."

Paragon, the specialist buy-to-let mortgage lender, said one of its companies had snapped up a bundle of credit card debt from MBNA Europe Bank. The firm is finding fertile hunting ground in banks trying to clear debt off their balance sheets. The purchase of closed UK consumer credit card debt is expected to be worth £16.2m and will be funded from Paragon's case reserves. The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing to the company in the current financial year. This acquisition follows a similar deal by Idem, one of Paragon's companies, to buy debt from MBNA in December last year for £55.7m. "This is the eighth transaction by Idem Capital and brings the total investment in the current financial year up to an expected £115.7 million, resulting in the division becoming an increasingly large part of the Group's activities," said Paragon's Chief Executive Nigel Terrington. "Idem Capital was the UK's second largest buyer of consumer loan portfolios in 2011 and we continue to see attractive portfolio acquisition opportunities with the banking and financial sectors increasingly seeking to de-leverage their balance sheets."