arvato expands BPO offering in UK with acquisition of Credit Solutions

London, UK, 22nd November 2010 – arvato, a global business outsourcing partner, has acquired the leading UK-based provider of debt recovery and management services, Credit Solutions, from ISIS Equity Partners.

The acquisition, for a total cash consideration of £10million, further strengthens arvato’s BPO capabilities in the UK, which already include outsourced customer management, supply chain management and finance services to the UK private and public sectors.

It also provides an opportunity for arvato to accelerate its growth in several key sectors where Credit Solutions has achieved strong penetration.

These include financial services, telecoms, utilities and the public sector - incorporating central government - a long-term strategic focus for arvato following its entry into the local government outsourcing market in 2005.

Established 20 years ago, Credit Solutions provides a range of integrated telephone- and field-based debt collection and management services, working on millions of live and closed accounts from early arrears to later stage debt recovery.

Clients include eight of the top 10 UK financial services companies, six of the top 10 UK telecommunications companies, all of the major UK utility providers and central government agencies including Department for Work and Pensions.

Credit Solutions, ranked one of the UK’s top 10 debt collection agencies by revenue, will be integrated into arvato’s existing finance services offering under the supervision of Andrea Kaminski, president, international finance, arvato.

The company already provides billing, credit and collections, accounting and payment processing services and consulting to a range of clients including; Google, Sony Music, Paramount Home Entertainment, Chase Paymentech, Gumtree and leading players in the internet service provider and online retail fields.

Andrea Kaminski, president, international finance, arvato, commented: “Credit Solutions is a well-established, successful and highly reputable player in the credit services market, with an exciting portfolio of capabilities and customers.”

Matthias Mierisch, Chairman and CEO of arvato UK & Ireland, said: “The acquisition adds critical mass in several core vertical sectors including financial services, telecoms, utilities, and particularly in the public sector where we are keen to continue growing our presence following three successful public private partnership agreements.

"This in turn provides new opportunities to leverage our full BPO capabilities on a UK and international scale. It is an important step in our strategic journey to becoming one of the most respected business outsourcing partners in the UK & Ireland, and a signal of our appetite for continued growth.”

Will Pierce, CEO of Credit Solutions, said: “This is the best outcome for our customers, our people and our shareholders. Becoming part of a large successful, multi-national and multi-service company like arvato provides significant opportunities for growth. This is the start of an exciting new chapter as part of the arvato family.”

He added: “There is continuing pressure on organisations in the public and private sector to increase the effectiveness of their credit management and debt collection activity. Thanks to a combination of process and IT innovation, outsourcing partners like arvato can maximise results and deliver measureable performance improvements.”

arvato UK & Ireland is a subsidiary of arvato AG, one of the world’s largest internationally networked media and communications services providers with annual revenues of approximately €4.8bn. It is one of five divisions of global media group, Bertelsmann AG.