Aarons invests in U.K. retailer

Atlanta -- Aaron's announced that it has reached an agreement to purchase 11.5% of Perfect Home Holdings Limited, a privately-held U.K. rent-to-own company, which operates under the PerfectHome brand.



PerfectHome currently has 45 stores open throughout England and has plans to approximately double the number of stores over the next several years.

Aaron's will pay approximately $15.4 million at current exchange rates, for its interest in PerfectHome and will have an option to increase its ownership in the future. The funds will be primarily used by PerfectHome to accelerate the growth of its store openings.



"We are very excited about this investment in PerfectHome," said Robert C. Loudermilk, Jr., president and CEO of Aaron's, which currently has more than 1,900 company-operated and franchised stores in 48 states and Canada. "Not only will it provide PerfectHome growth capital, it will also enable Aaron's to learn about the U.K. market for possible future expansion there and perhaps provide an eventual gateway into other European markets. Although we feel our growth prospects remain excellent in the U.S., we plan to further explore international opportunities that could complement domestic growth."