KKR sells credit specialist Sistemia to BC-backed MCS-DSO

The acquisition was made via DSO Italia, a wholly owned Italian subsidiary of MCS-DSO. This is the second bolt-on inked by the company, which bought an 80% stake in Italy-based credit recovery specialist Serfin in December 2018.

Sistemia's chair, Guido Fienga, CEO Paolo Sgritta and other key managers reinvested in the company alongside MCS-DSO and retained a minority stake.

The group intends to fund the acquisition using its available cash. However, depending on market conditions, it may replenish all or part of the cash used to finance the deal through external debt, ensuring that it remains within the group's leverage guidance of 2.5-3.5x.

MCS-DSO plans to strengthen its position in the Italian credit collection market, boost its growth and increase its cross-selling opportunities. The combined group expects to generate EBITDA of €109m from revenues of €237m in 2019.

KKR acquired a majority stake in Sistemia in April 2017, while the company's management team retained a minority holding in the business.

BC Partners bought a 90% stake in French bank loans portfolio management company MCS & Associés from Cerberus Capital Management in October 2017 for a total consideration of €380m, implying a total EV of approximately €400-420m. The deal ended a three-year holding period for Cerberus.

BC Partners deployed capital from its BC European Capital X, which closed on €7bn in January 2018. 

MCS acquired France-based credit management services provider DSO in 2017. BC became the majority shareholder of the combined entity, alongside Montefiore Investment and the managers of both companies. The acquisition created a group with approximately 1,300 employees, which generates revenues of €130m.

Company
Established in 2003 and headquartered in Rome, Sistemia is an Italian credit servicer for secured and unsecured credits, including non-performing loans, with particular focus on real estate. The company operates in three main business areas: credit collection, providing portfolio due diligence, loan analysis, pricing assistance, remarketing of distressed assets, auction optimisation and debt collection; distressed real estate assets; and tailor-made information technology services for streamlining of the credit collection process and cost reductions.

The company claims to have serviced approximately €9bn in assets under management. Its client base includes banks, financial institutions, non-performing loan investors and utility companies such as Eni, Enel, SGA, Unicredit, BNL, IccreaBanca and Telecom Italia. It employs 185 staff and generates EBITDA of €8.6m from revenues of €26m.

People
Sistemia – Guido Fienga (chair); Paolo Sgritta (CEO).

Advisers
Acquirer – White & Case (legal).
Vendor – Alantra (corporate finance); Dentons (legal); Chiomenti Studio Legale (legal).

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