Cash America to acquire pawn-lending chain

A. Lee Graham Reporter   Cash America International Inc. of Fort Worth has signed an agreement to acquire a 41-store chain of pawn lending locations in Texas, primarily under the name Top Dollar Pawn and owned by TDP Superstores Corp. “This group of 41 stores allows us to grow our presence in many of the key markets in Texas where licensing restrictions exist,” said Cash America president and CEO Daniel R. Feehan in a news release. “We are thrilled to bring Top Dollar Pawn’s group of well-established pawn locations and talented personnel into the Cash America team,” Feehan said. Top Dollar Pawn operates 13 stores in Dallas-Fort Worth, 15 in Houston, five in San Antonio and eight additional locations in other Texas markets. Cash America operates 257 of its 828 U.S. lending locations in Texas, including 141 locations in common markets with Top Dollar Pawn. Cash America estimates the aggregate purchase price of the Top Dollar Pawn acquisition to total about $102.5 million to be paid in cash, which may be adjusted based on the aggregate value of the pawn loan balance and the merchandise inventory balance held by seller at closing. The transaction is expected to close in third-quarter 2013 and is subject to satisfying customary closing conditions. As of March 31, 2013, Cash America International operated 966 total locations offering specialty financial services to consumers. Among those locations are 828 lending sites in 22 states primarily under the names Cash America Pawn, SuperPawn, Cash America Payday Advance and Cashland; 47 pawn lending locations in central and southern Mexico under the name Cash America casa de empeño; and 91 check-cashing centers operating in 15 states under the name Mr. Payroll. More information is available at www.cashamerica.com.   lgraham@bizpress.net