East Capital Explorer, East Capital Financials Fund and Intrum Justitia Jointly Invest in Russian Non-Performing Consumer Loan Portfolios

Regulatory News:

East Capital Explorer and Intrum Justitia (STO:IJ), together with the East Capital Financials Fund, intend to invest in a joint venture which will seek to purchase portfolios of non-performing consumer loans that are non-secured with focus on the Russian market. The total investment will amount to EUR 20m, of which Intrum Justitia intends to invest EUR 10m.

The Russian non-secured debt industry comprising non-performing retail loans such as consumer loans, vendor loans, credit card debts and car loans have increased significantly following the recent financial crisis. Banks are increasingly outsourcing collection to local collection agencies or selling their non-performing consumer loan portfolios on the market in order to improve cash flow.

The portfolios purchased by the joint venture will be serviced by selected local service providers. East Capital Financials Fund partially owns Morgan&Stout (M&S), a Russian collection agency, which will be included in the selection.

Gert Tiivas, CEO East Capital Explorer, says: "Together with the other investors and Morgan&Stout, we have a very strong execution capability to generate attractive returns on this investment.”

Lars Wollung, CEO and President of Intrum Justitia, says: "The joint venture is a first step in Intrum Justitia’s prospective future expansion into the Russian market. Together with our reputable partners we will explore the potential in this very interesting market.”

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Intrum Justitia is Europe’s leading Credit Management Services (CMS) group and offers services designed to measurably improve clients’ cash flows and long-term profitability. Intrum Justitia was founded in 1923, has around 3,300 employees in 23 markets and revenues of approximately SEK 3.7 billion. Intrum Justitia AB is listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm since 2002. For further information, please visit www.intrum.com.

East Capital Explorer AB is a Swedish company, created with the specific aim of bringing unique investment opportunities in Eastern Europe to a broader investor base. The company invests mainly in East Capital’s private equity and semi-public equity funds that provide exposure to companies not otherwise accessible via the local stock exchanges in Eastern Europe. East Capital Explorer targets fast growing sectors such as the power utilities, financial, retail and consumer goods and real estate sectors. East Capital Explorer has appointed East Capital to manage its investment activities. Since 9 November 2007, East Capital Explorer is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, Mid Cap.

East Capital Financials Fund is a private equity fund that aims to benefit from the long-term macroeconomic development and the growing financial sector in Eastern Europe and CIS. The Fund has completed a number of transactions in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Kazakhstan, and currently holds fourteen investments in the portfolio. Thirteen of the portfolio companies are banks and one is a collection agency.