Rent-A-Center Enters Into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Acima to Create Leading Virtual Lease-to-Own Platform, Accelerate Long-Term Growth

Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the "Company" or "Rent-A-Center") (NASDAQ: RCII) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Acima Holdings LLC, a leading provider of virtual lease-to-own solutions. Total consideration consists of $1.273 billion in cash and approximately 10.8 million shares of Rent-A-Center common stock currently valued at $377 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021 subject to customary closing conditions, including clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Further details regarding the Acima acquisition will be discussed in a conference call with investors tomorrow at 8:30am ET and more information is available at investor.rentacenter.com.

Acima is a fast growing, profitable LTO fintech company with a national presence in retail partner stores and e-commerce platforms, and a broad range of product verticals. Founded in 2013 in Salt Lake City, Utah, Acima has grown annual revenues from $97 million in 2016 to an expected $1.25 billion in 2020. Acima will continue to operate out of Salt Lake City and will incorporate the complementary Preferred Dynamix platform to create a frictionless LTO experience for consumers and retail partners. Upon the closing of the transaction, the current Acima management team will report to Preferred Dynamix Executive Vice President Jason Hogg, and the combined business will be reported in the Preferred Lease segment.

“We’re excited to welcome Acima to the Rent-A-Center family,” said Mitch Fadel, Chief Executive Officer, Rent-A-Center. “Founder Aaron Allred and his team have created a leading virtual LTO solution for retailers and consumers. We all share a common vision to expand the virtual LTO offering across a broader set of retail partners and to meet the needs of more customers through an integrated omnichannel strategy. Acima will help us strengthen our organization, accelerate growth and increase our virtual partner base, allowing us to better serve more consumers with the flexibility of LTO.”

Jason Hogg, Executive Vice President, Preferred Dynamix, added: “This combination marries Acima’s advanced decisioning with Preferred Dynamix’s complementary and proprietary digital platform. The resulting set of fintech capabilities will support faster innovation, allowing us to bring aspirational brands to consumers across a broader set of e-commerce and retail partners.”