Private Equity Firm Launches Hostile Takeover Bid for Collection Agency

By Lisa Murray, The Age

Listed cash box Allco Equity Partners has made its first move, buying 17 per cent of debt collection company Baycorp Advantage and making a hostile bid for half of the stock it doesn’t own, in a A$470 million (US$359 million) deal.

Chairman David Coe and chief executive Peter Yates informed Baycorp’s board of their intentions yesterday afternoon. In a statement to the stock exchange late last night they criticised the company for failing to realise its potential and for not returning any capital to shareholders in the past four years.

AEP is offering shareholders $3.50 a share for 50 per cent of their holdings.

Baycorp was formed from the 2001 merger of Data Advantage in Australia and Baycorp in New Zealand. It is a debt collector and credit reporting bureau, which holds the default history of about 14 million Australians.

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