Point-of-sale finance specialist FlexiGroup has assured investors that it has the right strategy to improve the performance of its latest acquisition, the ailing Australian and New Zealand businesses of ThinkSmart.FlexiGroup held an investor briefing yesterday to announce its A$43 million purchase. The businesses are RentSmart, a point-of-sale finance provider, and Fido, a no-interest payment plan.The purchase price represents nine times forecasted earnings for 2014/15. Acquisition costs will be $3 million to $4 million and FlexiGroup expects to find "synergies" of $4 million to $5 million a year.ThinkSmart's Australian businesses have been hit by weak retail trading conditions and the current consumer preference for avoiding credit. They lost $910,000 in the six months to June.RentSmart and Fido each have turnover of around $10 million, which is very small compared with FlexiGroup's sales.FlexiGroup's chief executive, Tarek Robbiati, defended the acquisition, saying it had strategic value. RentSmart and Fido have relationships with retailers, such as JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith, that FlexiGroup does not have. Robbiati said: "This extends FlexiGroup's distribution footprint. It is very complementary. Also, RentSmart has an online point-of-sale capability for leasing that will add value to the whole business."And Robbiati is confident that FlexiGroup can make RentSmart and Fido much more efficient operations. He said RentSmart's funding costs would be lower, and there would be some product rationalisation and opportunities for cross-sell, and the two sales teams would be merged.Robbiati said: "Part of RentSmart's problem is its inability to fund. It is capital constrained. We will add value by [means of our] having better relationships with our funding banks."