(Source: Business Wire)
Dollar Financial Corp (NASDAQ:DLLR - News), a leading international financial services company serving unbanked and under-banked consumers, today announced the acquisition of an established consumer lending business in Poland. The acquired company, Optima, S.A., founded in 1999 and headquartered in Gdansk, offers unsecured loans of generally 40 -- 50 week durations with an average loan amount of $250 to $500. The loan transaction includes a convenient in-home servicing feature, whereby loan disbursement and collection activities take place in the customer's home according to a mutually agreed upon and pre-arranged schedule. The in-home loan servicing concept is well accepted within Poland and Eastern Europe, and was initially established in the U.K. nearly 100 years ago. Customer sales and service activities are managed through an extensive network of local commission based representatives across 5 provinces in northwestern Poland.
Commenting on the acquisition, Jeff Weiss, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are excited to enter the Polish market with a business we have been following for several years. Poland is at the forefront of economic development and growth in the region and has a population of about 38 million, with a significant percentage of the population currently underserved by the traditional banking industry. This acquisition also represents a planned first step into mainland Europe, and also provides a platform for further expansion into additional Eastern European countries. I am very pleased to welcome the entire management team of Optima into the Dollar Family, who along with their strong credit and collections systems and processes, are well positioned to take advantage of the substantial growth opportunities inherent throughout Poland and Eastern Europe."
Mr. Weiss continued, "Our strategy is to be the most diversified multi-product, multi-country, multi-channel retailer of financial services internationally for the unbanked and under-banked consumer. This long standing strategy naturally provides a wide range of investment opportunities around the globe, while it effectively minimizes any potential financial impact on our business from economic or regulatory developments within any single state, province or country.
