News: USA's EZCorp takes 30% share in CashConverters
Australia's CashConverters has grown into a global brand by making pawnshops look like real shops instead of dumping grounds for unwanted stuff. EZCorp is one of the USA's largest pawnbroking operations. Together they will have more than 1000 outlets.
CashConverters built fast across, in particular, Australia and the UK. And it did so with franchised operations. But recently, it has been buying out its franchisees and bringing the shops under direct control. It want to accelerate that process and to speed up the opening of new shops.
Enter EZCorp, one of the USA's largest short-term lending providers. Injecting cash into CashConverters will give it around 30% of the company. That is for new shares. EZCorp will also get two seats on the CashConverters board.
CashConverters has more than 450 shops worldwide. Of those 130 are in the UK. 38 are directly managed, the figure that CashConverters wants to increase. In Australia there are 135 shops.
EZCorp has more than 850 outlets (including outlets that handle short term loans but are not pawnbrokers) in the USA and Mexico.
But EZCorp also owns almost 30% of public company Albemarle & Bond Holdings PLC, reportedly the UK's largest pawnbroker. That has 115 shops.
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