iscover
iscover 
All of debtor finance company Scottish Pacific’s securities have been placed under a trading halt at the request of the lender, ahead of a “possible” takeover bid.
In a letter to the ASX, Scottish Pacific requested a trading halt “pending a material announcement” by the group “regarding a possible control transaction involving the company”.
Media reports have suggested that the company could be on the verge of receiving a bid from another company, with some media outlets reporting that Affinity Equity Partners has made an offer for the company worth $600 million.
Mortgage Business reached out to Affinity Equity Partners for confirmation of the reports but has not yet received a response.
The lender also requested that the trading halt remain in place until the earlier of the time it makes an announcement to the market and the commencement of normal trading on Monday, 24 September.
Last month, the group published its full-year 2018 (FY18) financial results, reporting an increase in its debtor finance turnover of 13.2 per cent, from $15.4 billion in FY17 to $17.4 billion in FY18.
The business lender’s net profit after tax (NPAT) also jumped, rising by 17.4 per cent, from $25.3 million in FY17 to $29.7 million in FY18.
Speaking to Mortgage Business’ sister publication, The Adviser, CEO of Scottish Pacific Peter Langham attributed the lender’s FY18 performance to growth in clients’ businesses and the “need for increased working capital by business owners”.
Mr Langham added: “We’ve seen growth in client numbers and demand, and we’ve seen growth [from] our existing customers growing their businesses, [so] I think our clients are growing and we grow with them.”
[Related: Treasurer approves bank-aggregator merger]
ISCOVER 
