Ropo Capital expands to Sweden – acquires Colligent Inkasso AB
Ropo Capital, the leading company in Finland offering invoice lifecycle services, expands its services to Sweden by acquiring all shares in the banking group Collector’s 3rd party debt collection company. With this acquisition, Ropo speeds up the launching of its automation-based invoice lifecycle services on the Swedish market and responds to the demands of its Finnish customers in the Nordic countries.
Ropo Capital Oy has entered into an agreement to acquire all shares of Colligent Inkasso AB from its parent company Collector AB. With the acquisition, Colligent’s 60 credit management professionals will become Ropo Capital’s employees and the existing customer base, except for Collector Group’s own non-performing loans and receivables, is transferred to Ropo as well.
The contract was signed on Tuesday 8.10.2019. The acquisition is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter 2019.
The acquisition opens up a completely new market for the invoice lifecycle service based on the single service provider model and strengthens Ropo’s position in Finland by expanding its services to its customers to the Nordic countries. The model developed by Ropo has changed the invoicing and receivables management market in its home country, and now the company will start to make the same change in Sweden.
Although internationalization is part of the company’s growth strategy, Finland remains in a central position.
“Our goal is to take Finnish service expertise to Sweden and to launch Ropo’s efficient and economical model that provides a full view to every stage of invoicing. With this acquisition we get a hold of the Swedish market while, at this stage, the basis for growth is the Finnish customers operating in Sweden. We have reached the size where many of our clients require services in the other Nordic countries as well. The desire to expand is therefore strongly based on customer need,” says Artti Aurasmaa, CEO of Ropo Capital.
With its service model based on proprietary technology and strong services, Ropo Capital has grown rapidly. The company has increased its market share especially in fields with large invoicing volumes. For example, 70 percent of Finnish electricity bills are sent through Ropo’s services.
“Combining the whole invoicing lifecycle, Ropo’s service model is unique and we strongly believe that there is demand for it in Sweden as well. Ropo has all the prerequisites to quickly evolve into a significant player in the Nordic countries. The references are there and the ownership supports internationalisation,” says Ropo Capital’s Chair of the Board Rasmus Molander.
Colligent Inkasso is a part of the Swedish banking group Collector. Colligent Inkasso’s revenue last year was approximately 95 million Swedish krona. As a result of the acquisition, Ropo’s turnover will grow by approximately €8 million and increase the number of employees in Sweden and Finland to over 260 financial specialists.
“We have searched for high levels of expertise on the credit market and Colligent’s personnel excellently meets this demand. The company has long experience with the combination of credit control and debt recovery, and it is this strong know-how that is one of the reasons that led us to carry out this acquisition. We are eagerly looking forward to working together with our new Swedish colleagues,” Aurasmaa describes the background of the deal.
For more information, please contact:
Jenni Jantunen, brand and marketing manager, Ropo Capital, +358 44 756 9603,
jenni.jantunen@ropocapital.fi
About Ropo Capital
Ropo Capital is a leading provider of invoice lifecycle management services in Finland covering the whole value chain of receivables management. We compete in the markets as a technological forerunner – our operating model is based on the advantages of digitalization and advanced automation. Headquartered in Kuopio, Finland, the Company employs approximately 200 people and serves more than 8,000 customers in Finland spanning from SMEs to large corporates. We deliver one in six invoices in Finland. Our goal is to be the market leader in Finland by 2020. More information available at www.ropocapital.fi
