Billionaire Kellner Family Weighs Home Credit Options

(Bloomberg) -- Late Czech billionaire Petr Kellner’s family is exploring options for consumer lender Home Credit, people familiar with the matter said, almost two years after scrapping a Hong Kong initial public offering. 

Home Credit’s owners are in discussions with advisers about options including partnerships and selling stakes in some operations, as they consider ways to raise cash and fuel growth for the business, the people said. 

The review is particularly focused on Southeast Asia and India and could lead to a transaction such as a stake sale to a new partner, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Home Credit’s businesses in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and India could be valued at $2 billion to $2.5 billion, they said. 

The structure of any potential deal hasn’t been decided, and there’s no certainty the deliberations will lead to a transaction, the people said. A representative for the Kellner family’s investment firm, PPF Group NV, said he couldn’t immediately comment. 

PPF canceled a $1.5 billion share sale for Home Credit in November 2019, citing market conditions. Kellner died aged 56 in a helicopter crash this March.

Home Credit was founded in 1997 and has operations in nine countries across Asia, central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. After the fall of communism in the Czech Republic, Kellner forged PPF Group, a holding company with interests spanning finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, media and biotechnology.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.