FlexiGroup buys NZ leasing company

Store finance company FlexiGroup has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Telecom Rentals, an IT and telecommunications equipment leasing company, from Spark New Zealand.

Telecom Rentals has NZ$97 million of existing lease receivables and around 1350 customers in government, education, data centres and digital businesses. It is forecast to earn a profit of around NZ$3 million in the 2015/16 financial year.

FlexiGroup said the consideration, to be paid in cash and senior portfolio debt, was equivalent to around 1.2 times receivables.

FlexiGroup has established leasing businesses in New Zealand, trading as Equico and Flexirent. At the end of December the New Zealand division had assets of A$92 million and contributed A$3.2 million of cash profit to the group's December half earnings of $42.5 million.

FlexiGroup chief executive Tarek Robbiati said in a statement that there were opportunities to develop the business by partnering with manufacturers on government deals.