Turners, formerly known as Dorchester Pacific, has bought Southern Finance for $5 million, giving the finance company greater exposure in the South Island as it continues to expand its loan book.
The acquisition adds assets valued at $3.3 million and $1.7 million in goodwill, and is expected to immediately boost annual earnings before interest and tax by $750,000, growing to more than $1 million after the first year, Auckland-based Turners says.
Christchurch-based Southern Finance is made up of South Island Vehicle Finance and K Finance, and mainly services the used car market.
"This acquisition provides the ideal base for us to significantly increase and then grow our market share in the South Island, complementing the strengths of Dorchester Finance in the greater Auckland area and Oxford Finance in the lower North Island," said chief executive Paul Byrnes.
Turners got a new lease of life in 2010 when Auckland private equity firm the Business Bakery got involved with a recapitalisation plan in which some 7200 investors owed about $84 million converted their debenture stock for four different types of security to keep the firm afloat while many other finance companies were failing in the wake of the global financial crisis and a local recession.
