Home-grown debt collection agency goes high-tech route

WA’S latest public offering may be a decades-old company and the State’s largest remaining home-grown debt collection agency, but investors in Repcol will be financing a new, largely untested business model with all the potentially higher returns that come with increased risks.

Repcol is following the successful floats of the likes of Collection House and RMG, with plans to raise a further $14 million, in addition to the $8 million already raised in convertible notes used to finance the purchase of debt ledger books with a face value in excess of $230 million.

Typically, between 5¢ and 10¢ is paid for every dollar held on a 120-day debt ledger book.

Half of the $14 million to be raised will be used to purchase more debt ledgers. More than $3 million has been allocated to expanding its operations in the eastern States as part of a bullish plan to more than double Repcol’s workforce within the next 18 months, as the company’s operations reduce focus on debt collecting contracts for the WA Government.

A further $1.32 million will go to-ward expenses, including $616,000 in underwriting fees for joint lead