China has toughened its rules on the export of rare earths, crucial materials for many modern technologies from smartphones to fighter jets.
One of Britain’s biggest debt collection agencies has called in restructuring experts just months after completing a refinancing aimed at buying it additional breathing space.
Sky News has learnt that Lowell Group, which has about 8 million customers in the UK, hired Teneo Financial Advisory in recent weeks to work with it.
Sources close to Lowell said the mandate was focused on financial forecasting for the group, which is owned by private equity firm Permira and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan.
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During the summer, Lowell completed a £1.6bn debt refinancing which pushed out its repayment deadline by three years, and reduced secured debt by £450m.
Lowell operates in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
It had been exploring a sale of its Nordic operations, although the status of that process was unclear.
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The company was formed in 2015 following the merger of UK and German market leaders Lowell Group and GFKL Group.
Three years later, it completed the acquisition of rival Intrum's Nordic business.
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In the UK, it competes with the likes of Arrow Group, which is also private equity-backed.
A Lowell spokesperson declined to comment.
