A non-bank lender has made further moves into the European market with a €290m buy.
Pepper has acquired the Spanish loan business of Celeris, with the newly acquired business to trade as Pepper Finance Corporation (Spain).
The buy sees the non-bank lender take on around 164,000 performing loans and a small non-performing book. The total book represents around €290m in receivables, the company said.
Pepper CEO Patrick Tuttle said the buy was a continuation of the lender's strategy to expand its footprint in Europe.
"This announcement represents a very significant milestone in Pepper’s European expansion strategy and in achieving our ambition of establishing Pepper as a best-in-class pan-European loan servicing and real estate manager, spanning a range of asset classes including residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, consumer finance and unsecured small business and personal loans," he said.
The move comes after Pepper earlier this year made further forays into the Irish market with its appointment to provide servicing for the €380 million (A$482 million) Pittsburg portfolio of Irish loans. Last year, the company acquired GE Capital’s Irish residential mortgage book.
