The private equity firm at the center of a series of bidding wars for British companies is leading the £1.7bn race to acquire the owner of Argos’s store-card operations. Sky News has learned that KKR is the frontrunner to purchase NewDay Group, which is owned by the buyout firms Cinven and CVC Capital Partners.
KKR is currently not in exclusive talks, and other parties – including Pimco, the asset management giant, KKR, and a Bain Capital-led consortium – are still in contention to acquire NewDay. Some bidders, like Pimco, have shown interest in acquiring NewDay’s consumer loan book instead of the entire company. On the other hand, bidders like KKR are looking to acquire the entire business, potentially with its current shareholders remaining invested for a period.
NewDay, which acquired Argos’s store card business last year in a £720m deal with J Sainsbury, has been exploring a sale or a stock market listing for some time now. Last November, Sky News reported that NewDay’s owners were preparing to work with investment bankers at Barclays on a process.
NewDay is one of the UK’s largest privately held providers of consumer credit services, serving around four million customers. In the past year, it reported £213m of underlying pre-tax profit, with new customer acquisitions increasing by 36%. Additionally, NewDay launched a technology and lending partnership with Lloyds Banking Group and initiated a pilot technology partnership with Debenhams Group in the final quarter of the previous year.
KKR has been actively involved in bidding wars recently for Assura, a GP surgeries landlord, and Spectris, a testing equipment provider – both listed on the London stock market. NewDay, KKR, and CVC have chosen not to provide any comments on the matter.
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