Aaron’s acquires Progressive Finance Holdings

Atlanta -- Aaron's Inc. has acquired Progressive Finance Holdings LLC, a merchandise lease-to-own company, from Summit Partners in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $700 million. Aaron's expects the transaction to be double-digit accretive to cash earnings per share in 2014 and significantly more accretive in 2015.



Through this acquisition, Aaron's gains an entry point into the virtual rent-to-own ("RTO") market and will operate Progressive as a wholly owned subsidiary of Aaron's. John Robinson, Progressive's CEO, will join the Aaron's executive leadership team as executive VP and CEO of Progressive, reporting directly to Ronald W. Allen, CEO of Aaron's.



"This is a highly complementary and transformative acquisition for Aaron's, and we are eager to capture the significant opportunities this combination will provide for our customers, franchisees, and shareholders," said Allen. "We expect that with Progressive's best-in-class virtual customer payment capabilities, coupled with our industry leading traditional lease-to-own model, we will create an omni-channel business, providing customers with better payment options, and enhancing Aaron's competitive position."