Case study Fortiva

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The company

Fortiva is the consumer credit card division of Atlanticus Holdings, an established originator, servicer and acquirer of consumer receivables listed on the NASDAQ exchange in the U.S. (NASDAQ:ATLC).

Why we invested

  • Attractive asset economics with structural enhancements
  • Addressing an underpenetrated market of c.50 million consumers
  • Well-invested infrastructure and established regulatory and compliance teams to meet high industry standards
  • Experienced management team
Year of investment

2017

Status

Realised

Building a better business

Prior to the credit crisis, Atlanticus was one of the largest non-bank credit card issuers in the U.S. It stepped back from the consumer credit market in 2010-14 due to an uncertain regulatory environment, but re-entered in mid-2015 given greater regulatory clarity.

Fortiva uses proprietary analytics and a flexible technology platform to enable the provision of credit cards to the financially underserved consumer credit market. The business has the infrastructure, technology, teams and standards to originate and service a high-quality portfolio of receivables.

TowerBrook’s partnership with Atlanticus reflected the alignment of our interests and strong working relationship, together with our experience in dealing with complex regulatory environments and securitization-style financing.

In February 2017, TowerBrook’s Structured Opportunities Fund I entered into definitive agreements to provide up to US$90 million of financing to Fortiva, committing to invest through a Master Trust structure during a five-year commitment period.

TSO I’s invested capital was allocated among multiple tranches of notes that were collateralized by a portfolio of credit card receivables.

Atlanticus has operated in the consumer finance space for over 20 years and has serviced over 17 million consumers, funded over $25 billion in loans and raised over $9 billion in capital.

According to data released in April 2018 by the American Banking Association, there were 364 million open credit card accounts in the U.S. at the end of 2017. That number included 185 million accounts held by superprime consumers, 104 million held by prime consumers and 75 million held by subprime consumers.