Subprime lender Amigo says open to proposals for reverse takeover

LONDON (Reuters) -Subprime lender Amigo Holdings on Monday said it continues to be open for a reverse takeover as the only possible prospect of delivering future value, after having received a number of unsuccessful tentative indications of interest.

Amigo, which provides credit to borrowers excluded from mainstream banks, is in an "orderly solvent wind-down" after the cost of compensating customers for loans mis-sold in the past pushed it to the brink of collapse.

The company said net assets have reduced by 84% to 5.8 million pounds as of Sept. 30, 2023.

"We believe that a reverse takeover is the only possible prospect of delivering any future value for shareholders," CEO Danny Malone said in a statement.

The company said it has agreed the sale of its RewardRate portfolio and has started the sale process of its Amigo Loans' charge-off portfolio.

"The legacy Amigo live portfolio is expected to be sold in early 2024," the company said.

Malone will step down as CEO on Dec. 31 and will be succeeded by Kerry Penfold.

Amigo has hired Grant Thornton to support with the dissolution of the group during 2024.

(Reporting by Andres Gonzalez; Editing by Jason Neely and Christopher Cushing)