By Jesús Aguado, Andres Gonzalez and Sergio Goncalves
MADRID (Reuters) - WiZink is considering different strategic options for its business in Portugal, four sources with knowledge of the matter said, as the Spanish online lender seeks to accelerate the unit's growth and boost its value.
The company is considering a joint venture, or a commercial agreement to sell consumer loans, two of the people said, adding that preliminary discussions were focused on first finding a suitable partner. A possible sale of a stake in the business would be for a minority holding, the people said. The owners have retained Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) to assess interest in the business, three of the people said. The sources declined to be named as the matter is private.
WiZink is 100% owned by investment firm Varde Partners. WiZink, Deutsche Bank and Varde Partners declined to comment.
Consumer lending in Portugal is at record highs, despite steep rate hikes by the European Central Bank. The value of outstanding loans in the country rose 2.7% to around 20.9 billion euros ($22.41 billion) in July, compared to a year earlier, according to data from the Bank of Portugal.
One of the people cautioned that a decision on whether to sell a stake, or enter a partnership has still not been finalised.
In the first half of 2023, WiZink's online consumer lending business in Spain and Portugal business reported a net profit of around 60,000 euros compared to a loss of 12 million euros in the same period last year.
($1 = 0.9325 euros)