Credit management firm bought by its managers. Gresham Trust backs £4.2m deal for CCI Group Plc

The fast-growing credit management company, CCI Group Plc, which collects debts on behalf of some of Britain’s biggest utilities, banks and credit agencies, has been acquired by senior staff through a new holding company Ultimate Business Services Plc.

Michael Cleary, aged 41, managing director, led a management buy-out from the existing majority shareholder. Gresham Trust, the investment capital company, provided the £2.45m equity finance for the £4.2m deal.

Michael Cleary helped to found CCI in 1992 after a period as the UK customer billing manager for BT. Another member of the buy-out team is Richard Prime, aged 43, group finance and commercial director.

In the last three years the turnover of CCI has tripled and is now £6.2m. It has expanded by creating a state of the art credit management system using the latest information technology and telecommunications installations and highly trained negotiators. It provides cost effective credit management solutions for clients with high volumes of debtors. RCM, a debt tracing company, has also been acquired as part of the transaction.

In addition, the company has recently responded to customer demand by diversifying into telephone marketing services. A new division, UMC, has been established which shares the CCI telephone and computer resources installations at offices in Woking and Glasgow.

Peter Brooks, a director of Gresham Trust, who joins the board of Ultimate Business Services Plc as a non-executive director, says, "Gresham Trust is backing an impressive management team with new ideas in a well established sector. The company is geared to achieving rapid growth in the coming years and is hoping to make strategic acquisitions which Gresham will also look to support."

Michael Cleary, managing director of Ultimate Business Services Plc says, "I very much welcome Gresham Trust’s association with the Group and their involvement will significantly underpin the challenging and exciting plans we have for our corporate development."