LONDON (Alliance News) - Morses Club PLC on Tuesday said unit Shelby Finance Ltd has acquired the business and certain assets of CURO Transatlantic Ltd, trading as WageDayAdvance.
CURO is a provider of online loans in the non-standard credit market.
The lender said the total consideration for the acquisition is GBP8.5 million paid in cash, 50% on completion and the balance over five months, depending on the final valuation of the acquired loan book.
Under the terms of the deal, Morses Club is acquiring all the existing infrastructure of CURO, including its decision platform, call centre, and online lending capabilities.
The gross receivables, which exclude all CURO bad loans identified by the company, amount to GBP19 million.
While it is not expected to add to earnings in the first 12 months, Morses Club said it is confident that the acquisition will make a positive contribution to earnings in 2021.
"This exciting acquisition of such a well-established online lending business represents a significant escalation for Morses Club's product diversification strategy," said Chief Executive Paul Smith.
Morses Club shares were trading 1.8% higher on Tuesday at 161.90 pence each.