An Irish entrepreneur who started a debt-collection business in his living room in Wimbledon today collected £59 million as he sold his 20% stake in Marlin Financial to a larger rival.
Martin Dunphy founded Marlin in 2002. The business buys non-performing portfolios of consumer debt — mainly credit cards and unsecured personal loans — from banks and then attempts to recover as much of that debt as it can.
Private equity firm Duke Street bought a 58% stake in the business for £12.5 million in 2010. Today it joined Dunphy in selling Marlin to Cabot Credit Management in a deal worth £295 million. Cabot is an offshoot of the US-listed Encore Capital. Dunphy said: “The fact Marlin has today grown into a highly profitable and recognised industry leader is testament to what you can achieve when you assemble a great group of smart, motivated and ambitious people. I see significant growth potential in this sector internationally and, in due course, hope to take advantage of new opportunities to team up with other partners to replicate this success in new markets.”
