Behind every on-screen loan shark is an even harder character making sure the mob’s debts are paid—make Peter pay, or Paulie might break your legs. The financial system is less violent, but similarly interconnected. Intrum, Europe’s biggest debt collector, has struggled to make its business of buying and settling bad loans work. Now it is under pressure from its own excessive borrowing. The firm’s $6bn pile of debt trades at levels indicating deep distress. So do its shares, whose value has fallen by half this year (see chart).
On July 11th Intrum said it had reached an agreement with its creditors. Most bondholders will take a 10% haircut in exchange for new shares in the company, which looks like a cross between a call centre and a hedge fund. It earns around half its revenue collecting non-performing loans (NPLs) on behalf of other firms—this involves hassling errant borrowers with letters and telephone calls. The second, more troublesome part of Intrum’s business entails not just chasing loans but actually owning them.
Source: Business - economist.com
