Pawnbroker and retailer of pre-owned jewellery H&T Group has acquired a selection of assets from Essex-based Maxcroft Securities for £11.3million in cash.
H&T shares rose 2.7 per cent or 10.00p to 380.00p on Wednesday, having fallen over 14 per cent in the last year.
Aim-listed H&T said the main asset snapped up from Maxcroft was its pawnbroking pledge book, amounting to around £6.1million.
Deal: Pawnbroker and retailer of pre-owned jewellery H&T Group has acquired a selection of assets from Essex-based Maxcroft
H&T said the nature of the acquired pledge book’s collateral items was aligned with that of H&T’s existing pawnbroking business and ‘consists primarily of gold, jewellery, and watches, with a similar asset mix.’
The mean value of the acquired pledge loans is £4,063, which is much larger than that of H&T’s mean pledge loan value of £423,
On Wednesday, H&T also announced £25million worth of additional financing to support the future growth of the business, from Pricoa Private Capital, the private capital arm of PGIM.
H&T said the additional cash injection would enable future growth in its pledge book, as well as investment in its store portfolio.
H&T chief executive, Chris Gillespie, said: ‘We are very pleased to be able to announce these two transactions, both of which underline the group’s focus on growing and broadening its core pawnbroking business and investment in the store estate.
‘We are also delighted to have further diversified and enhanced the group’s funding arrangements through the relationship with Pricoa.
‘We look forward to updating the market further on the 12th March, when we announce our results for the year ended 31st December 2023.’
Maxcroft has traded for over 40 years from a store in Ilford, Essex. H&T will enter into a lease in respect of the store. Five employees will join H&T.
