Accuma selling its IVA business

alan_green

Apologies if this has been raised before, but just found about Accuma (who my IVA is with) selling its IVA business to Grant Thorton, probably from June this year.
(Sorry the site isn't letting me link direct, so I'll have to quote. You can Google for it!)

May 1, 2009
Accuma gets out of IVA business and sends shares soaring

Manchester-based Accuma Group Plc (AIM: ACG) today said it was selling its individual voluntary arrangements business, leaving it with one main business, debt management services provider Byrom & Keeley.

It said the IVA books were being sold to accountancy firm Grant Thornton for £5.6m, 93 per cent more than Accuma was worth on the stock market yesterday.

The deal sent Accuma’s shares soaring by 153 per cent to 10.94p.

Grant Thornton has paid a 5 per cent deposit and will pay the remainder on completion, expected by early June.

Accuma said it was selling because the stock market was not valuing the IVA books fairly.

It said the level of new IVA cases was significantly below the numbers achieved in prior periods, partly due to the general market conditions affecting the numbers of IVAs approved by lenders and partly due to the streamlining of the division.

It said the IVA books were well run and profitable businesses which had attracted interest from a number of parties, but operating a successful direct marketing IVA business with acceptable profit margins in the face of increasing costs of case acquisition and reduced fee levels has become increasingly difficult.

Accuma said that after the disposals it would relocate Byrom & Keeley to “more appropriate premises”.

In February last year, Grant Thornton and its consortium partner Totemic Ltd bought the IVA book of Bolton-based Debtmatters Group Plc ffor £6.4m.

The questions are, did the Debtmatters customers notice any great difference, and how will this affect Accuma customers and their IVAs?

Al.

holeymoley

I too am with them so it will be interesting to see what happens here .