H&T Group acquires pledge book from Maxcroft Securities

British pawnbroker H&T Group said on Wednesday that it had acquired certain assets from Essex-based business Maxcroft Securities for a total of £11.3m in cash.

H&T said the main asset being acquired from Maxcroft was its pawnbroking pledge book, amounting to roughly £6.1m at the time of acquisition, inclusive of interest accrued and after required IFRS 9 provisions.

The AIM-listed group stated the underlying nature of the acquired pledge book's collateral items was aligned with that of its existing pawnbroking business and consists primarily of gold, jewellery, and watches, with a similar asset mix.

H&T also announced £25.0m of additional financing to support the future growth of the business, from Pricoa Private Capital, the private capital arm of PGIM. It said the additional funding will enable future growth in its pledge book, as well as investment in its store portfolio.

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."

As of 1020 GMT, H&T shares were up 2.70% at 380.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com