Newton will operate as a division of Coface Collections, according to Michael J. Ferrante, President of Coface North America, Inc. Newton, based in Metairie, LA, and operating branch offices in Denver, CO, Tucson, AZ, and Vancouver, WA, has been a leader in the U.S. commercial debt recovery industry for over 10 years. Employing 225 people, the company offers commercial debt collection, receivables management outsourcing, international collections, debt purchase, and educational services. All Newton locations will continue operations as normal.

"This strategic investment extends our core business of protecting companies against the risk of non-payment of receivables and significantly strengthens Coface's presence in the U.S. commercial debt recovery market. Our objective is to become a major player in all four Coface business lines in the U.S. -- trade receivables insurance, commercial credit information, receivables management and factoring," said Ferrante.

William J. Newton, CEO of Newton, stated, "We have a proven debt recovery record based on our innovative collection procedures and our unwavering commitment to client service. We are eager to join our collection and outsourcing expertise with the Coface network of over 80 independent credit specialists. We believe that a tremendous sales and customer service opportunity will be realized as we combine our organizations."

The acquisition expands Coface's global network of receivables management operations. Currently Coface provides receivables management services in 35 countries, with a target of serving 50 countries by the end of 2007.

Newton was represented by Marion Financial Corp. Marion Financial Corp. is a Houston-based merger and acquisition advisory firm serving clients throughout the United States and Europe with an industry focus in the collections and accounts receivable management area.



Coface facilitates global business-to-business trade by offering its clients four product lines to fully or partly outsource trade relationship management and to finance and protect accounts receivable: trade receivable insurance, credit information and corporate ratings, receivables management and factoring. Serving 85,000 clients, Coface has a direct presence in 60 countries and can provide services in 93 countries via its CreditAlliance partner network, organized around an integrated credit risk management tool, the Common Risk System. Coface was founded in 1946 and is a subsidiary of Natexis Banques Populaires and Groupe Banque Populaire whose share capital (Tier 1) was 14.6 billion euros at the end of 2005. Coface is rated Aa3 by Moody's, AA by Fitch and AA- by Standard & Poor's. More information is available at http://www.coface-usa.com

From : http://www.creditandcollectionnews.com