Debt Purchaser-Collector to be First Public ARM Firm in UK

Equidebt, which is largely owned by private equity group RJD Partners, is looking to become the first public ARM firm in the United Kingdom.

Equidebt will be valued at about £74 million ($145.5 million) on the Alternative Investment Market, a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange geared toward smaller companies.

Equidebt’s chief executive Wes Mulligan said in a statement, "This will improve our credibility-with our banking trading partners – the debt sellers – and so increase their level of comfort in selling larger volumes of debt to us."

According to an article in the UK’s Financial Mail, Equidebt operates in a market of unparalleled growth. Unsecured consumer lending has risen 42% over the last five years.

The deal also represents another example of private equity cashing out of the ARM space.  Last week in the U.S., Nationwide Credit, Inc. was sold by its private equity owners for $55 million.