Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc. Announces Pricing and Increased Size of Public Offering of Common Stock

NORFOLK, VA –Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAA) ("Portfolio Recovery Associates" or the "Company") today announced that it priced its previously announced public offering of common stock and that it increased the size of the offering. Under the offering, Portfolio Recovery Associates will sell 1,250,000 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $52.50 per share. In connection with the offering, Portfolio Recovery Associates has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 187,500 shares of its common stock at the public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on February 22, 2010, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions.

Portfolio Recovery Associates expects to receive net proceeds from the offering of approximately $62.2 million (or approximately $71.6 million if the underwriters exercise their over-allotment option in full), after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses. Portfolio Recovery Associates intends to use the net proceeds of the offering primarily to repay a portion of the debt outstanding under its $365 million revolving credit facility. Repaying a portion of the debt outstanding under its revolving credit facility will increase Portfolio Recovery Associates’ gross availability under the facility which, in turn, will allow the Company to draw down on the line of credit available thereunder for portfolio acquisitions and/or business acquisitions and for general corporate purposes including, but not limited to, organic growth, working capital and capital expenditures.

The offering is being conducted as a public offering pursuant to the Company’s effective shelf registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. William Blair & Company, L.L.C. is acting as sole book-running manager for the offering, and JMP Securities LLC is acting as co-lead manager.

The offering is being made solely by means of a prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and may be obtained from William Blair & Company, L.L.C., Attention: Prospectus Department, 222 West Adams Street, Chicago, Illinois 60606, or by calling toll-free 800-621-0687. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, these securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale is not permitted.

About Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc.
Portfolio Recovery Associates’ business revolves around the detection, collection, and processing of both unpaid and normal-course accounts receivable originally owed to credit grantors, governments, retailers and others. The Company’s primary business is the purchase, collection and management of portfolios of defaulted consumer receivables. These are the unpaid obligations of individuals to credit originators, which include banks, credit unions, consumer and auto finance companies, and retail merchants. Portfolio Recovery Associates also provides fee-based services, including collateral-location services for credit originators via its IGS subsidiary and revenue administration, audit and debt discovery/recovery services for government entities through both its RDS and MuniServices businesses.