Information on Cabot

[pmhcfc]

Any information I personally post here (re a DCA) is avaliable in the public domain- albeit with detailed research...

 

First and foremost; To those who haven't seen my recent posts, Cabot is in fact owned by the Nikko Cordial Coperation > Nikko acquires Cabot Financial Holdings Group in £275m secondary buy-out - Nikko is a very large company in Japan. Nikko has many arms to its organisation, one being NPIL. NPIL can be found here > npil - asset warehousing, corporate and portfolio acquisitions I won't go into too many details here re their board members, well not yet anyway...

 

Anyhoo- this thread is here just as a start out for any more interesting info I find out...I have a lot of interesting info already on other posts. The most recent finding of mine is this little 'link' between companies...In 2006 when Cabot were up for sale, one of the reported buyers in the running were Hermes..Interestingly, Hermes are one of the major shareholders of London Scottish Bank and who is owned by LSB?...Thames Credit are..and who are Thames Credit agents for?...Aktiv Kapital...I know this has nothing to do with Cabot directly, but..If Hermes had won the 'auction', what impact would it have had re Cabot and Aktiv Kapital?

 

Right, I have a proper question re Cabot now (bear with me as I explain a few things before I actually ask my question )

 

In 2003, Barclay's Private Equity invested £100m into Cabot... 3 year or so later Nikko paid £275m for Cabot/BPE ...Not a bad return eh? Now why would Cabot go to BPE in the 1st place, for a cash injection, yeah? Ok, so what do Cabot do with this cash injection...buy debts? If we work on the proviso that they pay 10% for debts- £100mil worth adds quite a bit to one's portfolio...If it was one's intention of selling one's company (to a very large organisation) how would one get the price up...by having a massive financial portfolio? ok...still with me lol? I'll continue...If you wanted a company to invest a huge amount of money in your company, what carrot would you dangle? Something like...Invest 'x' amount now and soon it'll be worth 3 times a much? --can you see where I'm going with this...so finally..my question....Is there any way I can find out what (in the way of debts in £'s) Cabot aquired between 2003 and March 2006?

[Rhia]

They have to file their returns to Companies House by law and this is public information. You can buy copies of these for a very small sum at Companies House

[pmhcfc]

They have to file their returns to Companies House by law and this is public information. You can buy copies of these for a very small sum at www.companieshouse.gove.uk

 

I'll do that- trouble is, Cabot have several companies listed.lol--

 

Just found out that on March 1st the Financial Ombudsman is giving a talk to all DBSG members (Ken Maynard is chairman and will be there) re what's happening in APril when DCA's will fall under the FOS jurisdiction. The talk is all about helping your company understand, and how to avoid getting complaints...complaints the DCA's will be fned for! No excuses after March 1st then Cabot (and others). The OFT is also giving a talk re the OFT's perception of the debt collecting industry.

 

A tiny bit on Thames Credit: The happily advertise that they support a children's charity, but they're not that charitable if you look at the accounts (as I have) of the said charity...shame really. I'm sure there's no connection but the solicitors who look after the charity itself (up until very recently) operate out of the same (registered) address as Thames Credit...hmmm

 

Aktiv kapital were once known as Sharpbranch , and had a sister company called flatphone ltd

[elizabeth1]

Any information I personally post here (re a DCA) is avaliable in the public domain- albeit with detailed research...

 

First and foremost; To those who haven't seen my recent posts, Cabot is in fact owned by the Nikko Cordial Coperation > Nikko acquires Cabot Financial Holdings Group in £275m secondary buy-out - Nikko is a very large company in Japan. Nikko has many arms to its organisation, one being NPIL. NPIL can be found here > npil - asset warehousing, corporate and portfolio acquisitions I won't go into too many details here re their board members, well not yet anyway...

 

Anyhoo- this thread is here just as a start out for any more interesting info I find out...I have a lot of interesting info already on other posts. The most recent finding of mine is this little 'link' between companies...In 2004 when Cabot were up for sale, one of the reported buyers in the running were Hermes..Interestingly, Hermes are one of the major shareholders of London Scottish Bank and who is owned by LSB?...Thames Credit are..and who are Thames Credit agents for?...Aktiv Kapital...I know this has nothing to do with Cabot directly, but..If Hermes had won the contract in 2004, what impact would it have had re Cabot and Aktiv Kapital?

 

Right, I have a proper question re Cabot now (bear with me as I explain a few things before I actually ask my question )

 

In 2003, Barclay's Private Equity invested £100m into Cabot... a year or so later Nikko paid £275m for Cabot/BPE ...Not a bad return eh? Now why would Cabot go to BPE in the 1st place, for a cash injection, yeah? Ok, so what do Cabot do with this cash injection...buy debts? If we work on the proviso that they pay 10% for debts- £100mil worth adds quite a bit to one's portfolio...If it was one's intention of selling one's company (to a very large organisation) how would one get the price up...by having a massive financial portfolio? ok...still with me lol? I'll continue...If you wanted a company to invest a huge amount of money in your company, what carrot would you dangle? Something like...Invest 'x' amount now and next year it'll be worth 3 times a much? --can you see where I'm going with this...so finally..my question....Is there any way I can find out what (in the way of debts in £'s) Cabot aquired between 2003 and March 2004?

 

Glad to see this interesting background information is still here - I was actually thinking that other than looking at companies house which does have this information as you are looking for - you could perhaps try gain a copy of back dated annual reports - let's me just say if I was a business management studies student - I'd perhaps contact the Human Resources dept and ask there if I could have copies of the annual reports for the last ?*? years to look at growth elements and trends within the business sector etc..

 

Annual Reports usually are very "glossy" useful document booklets that show changes, discuss them and often show expected trends etc.. to show expected/planned company changes due - previous changes etc.. could pick up some useful reading there? Most companies will have copies of this at hand for potential investors and other interested parties etc.. could be worth a try? (I am sure you have an unconnected friend - who could help you do this for postal purposes?)

[pmhcfc]

Glad to see this interesting background information is still here - I was actually thinking that other than looking at companies house which does have this information as you are looking for - you could perhaps try gain a copy of back dated annual reports - let's me just say if I was a business management studies student - I'd perhaps contact the Human Resources dept and ask there if I could have copies of the annual reports for the last ?*? years to look at growth elements and trends within the business sector etc..

 

Annual Reports usually are very "glossy" useful document booklets that show changes, discuss them and often show expected trends etc.. to show expected/planned company changes due - previous changes etc.. could pick up some useful reading there? Most companies will have copies of this at hand for potential investors and other interested parties etc.. could be worth a try? (I am sure you have an unconnected friend - who could help you do this for postal purposes?)

 

Hmm...That's a good idea...I still think the whole deal is somewhat suspect...If you think that a certain (un-named) board member joined both NPIL and Cabot within a few months of each other, one appointment was a few months before the sale and one a few days before it....just looks a bit iffy to me...But hey, what do I know...It's probabaly all above board and Kosher eh? ...back to the research me thinks ;-)

[Seahorse]

Oooohhhh, you're sailing close to the wind.

 

I hope you don't end up overboard.

[pmhcfc]

Just a little update...When barclay's equity invested into cabot in 2003, cabot reputedly had 700,000 'accounts' in the UK...3 year or so later when Nikko bought them, they reputedly had 1.3 million accounts in UK..If this is true, then Cabot managed to almost double their 'account' portfolio in the years between tempting in Barclay's and selling to Nikko. I guess we can see what Cabot allegedly did with that alledged 'cash injection' they got from Barclay's...Hmm

[elizabeth1]

Oooohhhh, you're sailing close to the wind.

 

I hope you don't end up overboard.

 

 

Seahorse - it wasn't meant as a close to the wind method of finding out about this company - the annual statements are widely available to any interested parties - they hold shareholder figures and lots of financial and background reading depending on what a person may have an interest in etc.. there is no underhand thing meant there really. I am sure often companies publish these documents online too where any interested party can read and study a company? I haven't looked for this - but it may be worth looking to see if it is online.

 

I only mentioned that pmhfc may have a friend/relative who could perhaps gain a copy for him as I was sure he wanted to be anonomous etc.. still - as we know MIB float around the boards so maybe better to get someone else to obtain on his/her behalf?? I know if I wanted such a document I'd ask one of my family to ask for it as they live miles away from me and would appear unconnected with me??

 

I am not trying to get anyone in trouble - it was just an idea to gain more relevant info etc.. so please don't think I was leading anyone on etc.. it was just a thought - I didn't mean any harm.

[pmhcfc]

Now you never know who to believe do you...When Nikko bought Cabot, they said this on their website > Nikko Principal Investments Limited ("NPIL"), the European principal finance arm of Nikko Cordial Corporation, announces that it has acquired the leading debt purchasing business in the UK, Cabot Financial Holdings Group (“Cabot”), in a £275 million transaction. Yet if you look at the website of the firm that set up the purchase, they (lexicon) say the sale was for £200m million

[pmhcfc]

Take a look at one of K Maynard's presentations last year ..

 

http://www.callcredit.co.uk/download/Credit%20&%20Risk%20Conf%20-%20Breakout%20Session%20-%20Collections%20&%20Recovery%20-%204th%20July2006.ppt#357,2,Slide 2

 

'Confessions of a debt collector'

[pmhcfc]

Ok, I'll stick to my own post re this info....I'm left wondering just how cheaply, companies like Cabot buys debts that are Statute barred or one's that have bad 'skip' references.... Take this little piece of info from one of Glen Crawfords articles...

 

Crawford, Glen

Publication: Credit Management

Date: Sep 2004

 

HEADNOTE Glen Crawford, considers the issues raised by the "skip" content of a seller's portfolio.

IMAGE ILLUSTRATION 1 In last month's column, I highlighted the importance of the due diligence process and, by way of example, pointed to the value differential between an account with valid address and telephone data and one without (colloquially known as a "skip" or "gone-away"). The former often commands a price 1000 per cent greater than the latter.

 

So then...If they buy a 'no-skip' debt of £5,000 for ,,say £1,500 (very generous estimate of 30% there BTW)..Then they'd get a 'skip' debt of £5,000 for £1.50 then? Ah-ha, now we're getting a bit closer to understanding just how little they pay for these old debts eh ?

[Seahorse]

Here's some names for you... Just for interest's sake.

 

PAST STUDENTS

Diploma Course for the Debt Collection Industry - Student Passes

2006

Candidate

Company

Position

Grade

Chris Dennison

Cabot Financial

Team Leader

C

Claire Hepworth

Cabot Financial

Team Leader

C

Justine Horton

Cabot Financial

Team Leader

C

Kim Bruno

Cabot Financial

Team Leader

P

Massamo Cristi

Cabot Financial

Collections Manager

P

Kristen Hanger

Cabot Financial

Team Leader

P

Annette Newman

Cabot Financial

Team Leader

P

[Rhia]

Where are you guys getting this stuff from??? Exam results? Inside the minds of directors??? Pictures of Ken??? Are you members of MI5?

[Seahorse]

Google. The main enemy of DCAs across the country.

[pmhcfc]

Google. The main enemy of DCAs across the country.

 

Seahorse, you hurt me feelings...I don't simply rely on just google, more to my 'research' than just simply google searching ;-) lol

[elizabeth1]

Where are you guys getting this stuff from??? Exam results? Inside the minds of directors??? Pictures of Ken??? Are you members of MI5?

 

 

I was just about to ask that question!!

[Seahorse]

You know what I would really love to know? Which company pays their wages. And who is named on their contacts of employment.

[tifo]

i read somewhere that they pay 6p per £ for a debt.

[pmhcfc]

i read somewhere that they pay 6p per £ for a debt.

 

It depends if you believe Ken or not..He insists that the cost varies from debt to debt...He says that some debts will be as much as 40% to buy (40p in the £)...The more the 'skips' in the debt portfolio, the cheaper it will be..He also states that debts (in general) are becoming more expensive to buy overall...

[pmhcfc]

You know what I would really love to know? Which company pays their wages. And who is named on their contacts of employment.

 

Nikko Probably---

 

CABOT FINANCIAL Consumer debt collector

WHEN banks and credit-card companies give up hope of recovering money from defaulting customers, Cabot Financial buys the debts and takes over responsibility for chasing the debtors. The Kent company claims to have about 15% of a market made buoyant by Britain’s record levels of consumer debt, and is looking at expanding overseas. Last April, chief executive Ken Maynard and managing director Glen Crawford led a secondary buyout that valued the company at £275m and gave Nikko Principal Investments a 66% shareholding, with former backer Barclays PrivateEquity retaining a minority stake. Profits rose by 42% a year from £9.7m in 2003 to £19.6m in 2005.

 

Someone's making a pretty penny or two eh?

[tbern123]

Any information I personally post here (re a DCA) is avaliable in the public domain- albeit with detailed research...

 

First and foremost; To those who haven't seen my recent posts, Cabot is in fact owned by the Nikko Cordial Coperation > Nikko acquires Cabot Financial Holdings Group in £275m secondary buy-out - Nikko is a very large company in Japan. Nikko has many arms to its organisation, one being NPIL. NPIL can be found here > npil - asset warehousing, corporate and portfolio acquisitions I won't go into too many details here re their board members, well not yet anyway...

 

Guess who got taken over today by Citigroup

Citigroup agrees $10 bln bid for Nikko Cordial - Yahoo! News UK

[pmhcfc]

Guess who got taken over today by Citigroup

Citigroup agrees $10 bln bid for Nikko Cordial - Yahoo! News UK

 

I can't keep up..So now Cabot are going to be American ? OMG, can it get worse?

 

"They Overcharge, They Overstate...Now they Over here"

[Seahorse]

Should be a nice fat little earner for our favourite execs.

[pmhcfc]

Should be a nice fat little earner for our favourite execs.

 

More 'news'

 

 

With the recent announcement from Provident Financial that they are due to action off the Yes Car Credit - Direct Auto Finance business certain press reports suggest that Cabot Financial are closely looking into the business. However there does seems to be interest from other parties.

[Seahorse]

So folks who thought they were getting free motors will have to deal with Cabot perhaps? I wonder how watertight Yes Car Credit's agreements were? And if they are even still available?

 

Do your homework first before getting your bid in, Ken. This one might come back to bite you on the bum. Especially if the national press gets wind of how folks like us are fighting back.