H&T sold by Rutland

H&T Group, the UK pawnbroker, has floated on AIM, representing an exit for shareholder Rutland Partners. The business had an enterprise value of £91.9m, with a market capitalisation of £54.2m. The money raised from the listing has returned £44.5m to Rutland, a multiple of 2.9x and an IRR of 89%.

The firm acquired H&T in September 2004 for £49m from Cash America International, along with Swedish pawnbroker Svensk Pantbelaning (SP.) Rutland is keeping is controlling stake in SP.

The company now has 69 outlets across the UK, and has diversified its operations to include not only pawn broking (still its core business) and jewellery retail, but also payday cash advances, cheque cashing and pre-paid debit cards. In 2005, it reported EBITDA of £6.7m.