Wilmington-based Navient announced that it has acquired Gila LLC.
Financial terms were not announced.
The Austin, Texas-based asset recovery (debt collections) and business process outsourcing firm focuses on the state and local government market, serving more than 600 clients in 39 states.
Commonly known as Municipal Services Bureau, the firm provides receivables management services and account processing solutions for state governments, court systems and municipalities.
“This acquisition accelerates Navient’s growth in its services to state and local governments,” said John Kane, chief operating officer, Navient. “We share MSB’s strong commitment to client service and the highest standards of ethics and execution. This partnership enables us to offer enhanced value to state and local clients and to successfully recover revenues to fund important public priorities.”
“We’re delighted to partner with another leader in the field, and welcome the opportunity to grow with Navient and further invest in the services we provide to our clients,” said Bruce Cummings, CEO, Gila. The Gila name generally refers to a river and county in Arizona.
MSB will maintain its management team, headquarters location, and staff of about 400 people. The firm is expected to generate about $70 million in revenue in 2015. Founded in 1991, the firm earlier owned by Owner Resource Group, an Austin, Texas-based private investment firm.
Naivent recently moved its 140-employee headquarters from the Newark area to the Wilmington Riverfront.
Servicing more than $300 billion in student loans, the company supports the educational and economic achievements of more than 12 million Americans. The company was spun off from Sallie Mae, which now operates as a lending institution. Sallie remains based near Newark.
Both companies are publicly traded.
Sallie Mae brought operations to Delaware during the financial crisis of 2009 and helped stabilize financial services employment during that period. The company later moved its headquarters from Virginia to Delaware as part of a restructuring effort.
The company also lost a part of its lucrative loan servicing business when the federal government decided to service some students loans on its own.
It was later decided to separate Sallie Mae, which started out as a corporation sponsored by the federal government with the mission of offering student loans into two companies.
