CRIF, the first credit information company in Continental Europe and the fourth worldwide, announces the acquisition of the remaining shares of CCB Czech Credit Bureau a.s., formerly owned by TransUnion and Kilcullen Kapital Partners (through its Mozart Venture Fund), as partners.
CRIF's acquisition of CCB has been accompanied by an increase in the company's charter capital by 49.410.000 CZK, thus allowing CCB to rely on additional financial resources to be eventually allocated for new investments in the local market.
Since its foundation, CCB's main focus has been on the establishment of a credit bureau system based on a technological solution developed and managed in outsourcing by CRIF, which relies on in-depth knowledge and expertise in the fields of credit reporting agencies and decision support systems. Launched in 2002, the Czech banking client information register has been progressively joined by other financial institutions and became the model for a similar register developed in the Slovak Republic. Beside these important credit reporting systems, CCB has extended its activities to the areas of non-banking registers and decision support systems such as credit scoring, client segmentation and I-rating, both for consumer and SMEs' markets. In this particular field, CCB is preparing the launch of a non-banking register for seven largest leasing companies and consumer credit providers. The company has also delivered EU structural funds evaluation for CzechInvest (Czech state agency for foreign investments), SME ratings for Prague Chamber of Commerce and rating of municipalities, SMEs and housing cooperatives for banks and various institutions.
"Our team is enthusiastic and our commitment is very high. CRIF's increasing investments in technology and service improvement and its international expertise guarantee the required resources for our mission: to reinforce our relationship with Czech financial institutions, providing them with a complete range of solutions to improve credit risk management processes." - said Petr Kucera, Executive Director of CCB and Executive Head of SCB - Slovak Credit Bureau, s.r.o. Before taking on his position, Kucera worked within CRIF as a Senior Regional Manager for Middle and Eastern Europe, participating in the establishment and launch of credit bureau projects in Croatia and, recently, in Russia.
The acquisition has been warmly welcomed by both the former shareholders. Larry Howell, vice president, TransUnion International commented, "With this transaction, our business relationship is greatly enhanced. CCB will cease to be a stand-alone joint venture, becoming a strategic partner within the global alliance between TransUnion and CRIF."
To date, the joint venture between TransUnion and CRIF has led to the establishment of a network of companies providing business solutions and decision support systems in Mexico, Canada, Central and South Americas as well as the establishment of credit bureaus in growing markets such as Russia.
In fact, CRIF and TransUnion have been among the founding members of the National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBCH), a public joint-stock company recently created in partnership with other Russian premier financial institutions with the aim to set up a National Credit Records Bureau in Russia. TransUnion CRIF Decision Solutions LLC, an international joint venture company formed by TransUnion and CRIF, has been chosen by the newly founded Russian organization as technological and strategic partner.
As founder of CCB, Enda O'Coineen of Kilcullen Kapital Partners will remain committed to support the company as a member of the Czech Credit Bureau and Slovak Credit Bureau's special Advisory Board to CRIF.
Recognizing that "CRIF's investment is a great boost to the business and indeed the development of the Czech and Slovak Credit financial markets", he also said that "getting the Bureau started, together with building trust and agreement among the banks, has been a great challenge, with the important result that Czech and Slovak Republics now rely on the most advanced and progressive Credit Bureau Service in Central and Eastern Europe, whose success has been possible thanks to the benefit of the global knowledge and commitment of CRIF and TransUnion, together with a dedicated professional team on the ground."
