Ashcombe advises Azzurro Associates on its sale to Hoist Finance
Ashcombe is pleased to announce that it has acted as exclusive financial adviser to Azzurro Associates (“Azzurro”) on its sale to Hoist Finance. Hoist Finance has agreed to acquire the UK operations and assets of Azzurro, including its FCA-regulated entity, from Elliott Investment Management LP (“Elliott”) and a number of Azzurro senior executives.
Founded in 2017, Azzurro is a leading specialist SME debt purchaser and servicer with a client base that includes high street banks and financial institutions. The company has three operational centres in Southampton, Northampton and Manchester with approximately 180 employees, and has acquired assets in multiple jurisdictions in Europe as well as the UK.
Andrew Birkwood, founder and Group CEO of Azzurro, commented:
“After a successful 8-year partnership with Elliott, this transaction marks an exciting new chapter for Azzurro. Hoist Finance brings scale and a long-term approach that complements our culture and how we work with clients and partners. I’m proud of what the team has achieved since 2017 and we look forward to building an even stronger platform together. The team at Ashcombe has a unique advisory franchise in the European NPL investment management space which very much contributed to this successful outcome.”
Andreas Wesemann and George Kidd at Ashcombe, commented:
“Andrew and his team have built a differentiated NPL investment management business that has delivered strong performance over many years. We believe Azzurro will be a valuable part of Hoist Finance’s operations in the UK and Europe.”