Rent-A-Center to acquire Acima Holdings for $1.6 bn cash and stock deal

By Pavithra R

Rent-A-Center, a leading omni-channel lease-to-own provider for the credit-constrained customer has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Acima Holdings, a leading provider of virtual lease-to-own (LTO) solutions for $1.65 billion cash and stock transaction.

Total consideration consists of $1.273 bn in cash and approximately 10.8 mn shares of Rent-A-Center common stock currently valued at $377 mn. The transaction is subject to customary closing condition and is expected to close in the first half of 2021.

Founded in 2013, Acima empowers consumers and merchants with No Credit Needed point-of-sale leasing solutions underwritten by machine learning technology. It is a fast-growing, profitable LTO FinTech company with a national presence in retail partner stores and eCommerce platforms, and a broad range of product verticals. Through the acquisition, Acima will incorporate the complementary Preferred Dynamix platform to create a frictionless LTO experience for consumers and retail partners. The transaction is expected to expand digital payment solutions and communication along with a superior back-end infrastructure to support customer and LTO partner needs.

“We’re excited to welcome Acima to the Rent-A-Center family. Founder Aaron Allred and his team have created a leading virtual LTO solution for retailers and consumers. We all share a common vision to expand the virtual LTO offering across a broader set of retail partners and to meet the needs of more customers through an integrated omnichannel strategy. Acima will help us strengthen our organization, accelerate growth and increase our virtual partner base, allowing us to better serve more consumers with the flexibility of LTO,” said Mitch Fadel, Chief Executive Officer, Rent-A-Center.

“We’re thrilled to be part of a Rent-A-Center team that’s modernizing LTO to serve the estimated over 60 million unbanked and underbanked consumers in the United States. We share Mitch and Jason’s vision to create the most dynamic LTO omnichannel shopping experience in the industry,” said Mr Allred.

Upon the closing of the deal, the current Acima management team will report to Preferred Dynamix Executive VP Jason Hogg, and the combined business will be reported in the Preferred Lease segment. 

“This combination marries Acima’s advanced decisioning with Preferred Dynamix’s complementary and proprietary digital platform. The resulting set of fintech capabilities will support faster innovation, allowing us to bring aspirational brands to consumers across a broader set of e-commerce and retail partners,” said Jason Hogg, Executive Vice President, Preferred Dynamix.

Established since 1986, Rent-A-Center is a rent-to-own industry leader with a mission to improve the quality of life for our customers.