Sigla Credit

Business at time of investment

Sigla was a small but long established player with a strong brand in the Italian consumer loans market.

Investment rationale

Expanding on Palamon’s consumer credit thesis, the relatively unsophisticated nature of the Italian financial products market made it particularly attractive opportunity as the use of unsecured credit products in Italy was extremely low compared with other EU markets.  Sigla, although a small platform, was a professionally run business, employing sophisticated under-writing techniques and with a well-developed market position from which a much larger business focused on near-prime consumer loans could be built.

Value creation

• Distribution: Enlarged distribution channels with geographic expansion across Italy
• Diversified product range: Launched new upfront cash rich products salary secured loans, insurance

Today

Following a difficult period post-financial crisis, Sigla has steadily built out its position as one of the leading independent originators of consumer loan products in Italy originating and underwriting over €100 million of consumer loans per year.