Barclays PE trebles Cabot investment

Barclays Private Equity has sold UK debt purchasing company Cabot Financial to Nikko Principal Investments Limited (NPIL) for £275m. The disposal of the business has earned Barclays Private Equity a 3x return on its January 2004 investment when it took a majority stake in a £100m MBO.

The management team, led by Ken Maynard and Glen Crawford, has also sold its 20% stake to NPIL but has reinvested and will continue to run the business. Barclays has also reinvested, committing £25m to support the expansion plans of the company.

The consumer debt market in particular has seen high levels of activity in recent years, and this is what made Cabot attractive to Barclays in 2004 and to NPIL now, which hopes to push the business into continental Europe.