15th Jun 2005 13:00
HSBC Holdings PLC15 June 2005 LASER TO ACQUIRE NETVALOR FROM CCF CCF and LASER, through Mediatis, have signed an agreement for Mediatis toacquire 100 per cent of the capital of Netvalor, a wholly-owned consumer creditsubsidiary of CCF. Mediatis is a wholly-owned subsidiary of COFINOGA, which inturn is a subsidiary of LASER. Netvalor had a net asset value of €10.4 millionat 31 December 2004. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to befinalised in the third quarter of 2005 once consultations with CCF's andCOFINOGA's Works Councils have been completed. Launched in April 2000, Netvalor offers consumer loans through two channels:* Direct online sales via the 123credit.com website; and* Partnership agreements with financial institutions (including insurance companies, banks and pension funds), mutual organisations and associations, as well as e-commerce companies.Netvalor currently has over 60,000 customers and 80 employees, and had €275million in loans outstanding at 31 December 2004. LASER is owned by Galeries Lafayette and BNP Paribas. Through its acquisition ofNetvalor, LASER aims to strengthen and boost the rapid growth of its online loandistribution to individuals under the Mediatis brand. The acquisition will alsohelp it develop partnerships with e-commerce operators and financialinstitutions. This will be a new area of growth for LASER. Notes to editors: 1. The HSBC GroupCCF is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc, and a member of the HSBCGroup. Serving over 110 million customers worldwide, the HSBC Group has over9,800 offices in 77 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacificregion, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$1,277billion at 31 December 2004, HSBC is one of the world's largest banking andfinancial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as 'the world'slocal bank'. 2. LASERThe LASER group incorporates the financial services activities of COFINOGA andthe associated loyalty programme, e-LaSer. The group is growing its activitiesin Europe using its advanced know-how in marketing and technology in customerrelationship management. It is co-controlled by Galeries Lafayette and BNPParibas. Through the private label card processed by COFINOGA, LASER is leaderin Europe with 10 million customers, of which 4.5 million are in France. Presentin eight countries in Europe, LASER has more than 5,600 employees and, in 2004,achieved a turnover of €1,156 million. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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