ClearDebt buys Relax assets

MANCHESTER debt management company ClearDebt has bought some of the assets of a collapsed rival, the Relax Group.

It has spent £2.7m acquiring 2,400 individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) cases, 2,800 debt management plans and 1,300 protected trust deeds.

The business said the assets were worth £6.2m, giving it a 60% reduction to the book value. It plans to collect fees from the assets but will not give them such a high value in its own books.

Chesterfield-based Relax was put into administration by ClearDebt’s chief executive David Mond who bought Relax’s debt, owed to Barclays, as a private investor in November.

In a statement Mr Mond, said: “The acquisition of these assets should provide strong, predictable additional cashflow for the group and our lean administration means we are very confident we will manage these cases effectively and at a higher margin than Relax found possible.”