Collectors Universe Selling Off Loans

Collectors Universe, parent company of PSA, has sold off the lion's share of its loan division.

Collectors Universe has sold the majority of its loan portfolio for approximately $3.1 million to Collateral Finance Corporation, a licensed lender in the State of California and an affiliate of Escala Group, Inc. The Company sold the loans, which were all related to coin-based collateral, for an amount that was about 0.7% over par value.

CU had attempted to establish the loan business over the last couple of years through numerous full-page ads in its publications, including Sportscard Market Report and on its website.

"When we established our lending arm, we intended to add liquidity and preference to the market for products certified by one of our brands that authenticates and grades collectibles,' explained Chief Executive Officer Michael Haynes. 'The majority of the demand for our loans came from the coin market and coincidentally, Collateral Finance Corporation was formed as an affiliate of A-Mark Precious Metals, a major dealer in precious metal bullion and coin products. The lending activities were a relatively small part of our consolidated results and after we confirmed the continuing interest in asset based lending by other companies in the market, we began to explore opportunities to sell our portfolio in order to streamline our business and focus on our core competency and strength in authentication and grading.'

The company retained loans with an aggregate par value of approximately $2.8 million that are generally related to stamp collateral and sports collateral valued at more than $5.3 million. The Company expects that those loans will be paid over the course of the next 12 months.