National Asset Recovery Services Acquires Collection Agency Integrity Financial

H.I.G. Capital announced Tuesday that its portfolio company, National Asset Recovery Services, Inc. (NARS), has acquired Integrity Financial Partners, a leader in third-party debt collection services. Integrity is a leading accounts receivable management (ARM) firm with a diverse, blue chip client base including many prominent national credit grantors.

Chris Buehrle, NARS CEO, commented, “Integrity is a highly regarded, rapidly growing accounts receivable management firm.  Integrity has a demonstrated track record as a leading provider to the world’s largest and most demanding blue chip clients.  Integrity Chairman A.L. Summerlin, Integrity President Nick Petrini, and their talented group of management and collectors will complement and bolster the outstanding team we have assembled at NARS.”

A.L. Summerlin, who will continue as Chairman of Integrity and will join the NARS Board of Directors, added, “We’re excited about the opportunity to leverage NARS’ experience and resources and continue our track record of growth.  NARS’ proven operating strategy, strategic footprint, solid management team, and robust financial backing were strong considerations for us, and we believe this will help Integrity capitalize on its next stage of growth.”

Nick Petrini will remain President of Integrity, and other key members of management will retain their current roles.  Integrity’s three domestic sites, which will continue operating under the Integrity name, add depth and expertise to NARS’ existing ARM operations.  The Integrity acquisition will increase NARS’ domestic footprint to eight call centers, for a total of eleven sites in the United States, Jamaica, Chile and Panama.

“Integrity is the fourth recent ARM investment for H.I.G. Capital in collaboration with Tim Bauer of Reprise Management Group, and demonstrates our commitment to the sector.  We set out to partner with the highest quality companies and management teams in the industry, and the Integrity acquisition furthers that goal following our acquisitions of NARS and Pinnacle, as well as TRAKAmerica, in the last 18 months,” commented Jeff Zanarini, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital.

Tim Bauer commented, “We believe the combination of NARS, Integrity and Pinnacle Financial Group, which was acquired by NARS in November 2010, establishes a unique collection of the most blue chip clients in the industry, coupled with a domestic and nearshore footprint of over 10 sites to service those clients’ first and third party receivables needs in a one-stop fashion, and a pool of management talent devoted to customer needs and operational excellence to achieve that goal.”

Greenberg Advisors, a specialist in M&A and strategic advisory in the Accounts Receivable Management sector, acted as financial advisor to H.I.G. Capital and Reprise in this transaction.

NARS is a leading ARM / BPO firm founded in 1993 and is one of the largest private ARM / BPO companies in the U.S. Headquartered in St. Louis, MO. NARS employs more than 3,000 people at call centers in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, MO; Minneapolis and Monticello, MN; Decorah, IA; Panama City, Panama; and Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Integrity Financial Partners is one of the fastest growing ARM companies in the U.S. The company employs over 300 people at four call centers in Overland Park, KS, St. Charles, MO, Columbus, OH and Santiago, Chile.

H.I.G. Capital is a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $8.5 billion of equity capital under management. Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, New York, and San Francisco in the U.S., as well as affiliate offices in London, Hamburg and Paris in Europe, H.I.G. specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential.

Reprise Management Group was formed through a partnership between H.I.G. Capital and Tim Bauer, a 26-year veteran in the ARM sector. Reprise was formed for the specific purpose of acquiring premier ARM service providers and then growing the businesses through a combination of acquisitions and organic growth.