EOS Group

German holding company

EOS Holding GmbH

EOS Building in Hamburg

Trade name

| EOS Group
Company type| GmbH
Industry| Debt collection, financial services
Founded| 1974 (1974)
Headquarters| St. Georg, Hamburg,

Germany

Key people

| Marwin Ramcke[1]
Revenue| EUR 853,1 million (fiscal 2019/20)[2] Number of employees was 7,578 (fiscal 2019/20)[2]

Number of employees

| 7,578 (fiscal 2019/20)[2]
Parent| Otto Group[3]
Website| www.eos-solutions.com

The EOS Group is a holding company that operates financial services companies with locations in Europe,[4] the United States[5] and Canada.[6] Its core activity is receivables management including receivables purchasing and debt collection. The group, which has its headquarters in Hamburg, is part of the Otto Group.

## Company history

[edit]

### The first three decades

[edit]

Deutscher Inkasso-Dienst (DID), the nucleus of the group, was established in 1974 as a spin-off of the legal department of Otto-Versand (now: OTTO).[7] The company dealt with collecting outstanding receivables for Otto-Versand and also for non-group companies. Early on, the service provider focused on correspondence and dialogue with defaulting payers and on the acquisition of external clients.[8] In the 1980s and 1990s, the company grew through acquisitions in Germany, through expansion in Europe, and through expansion of its range of services.[9][10]

In 2000 the EOS Holding was established,[11] introducing the umbrella brand EOS.[9] The company entered the US when it took over Collecto in 2001, a company founded in 1992.[9][12] In 2004 the group established a special company for medical debt recovery, EOS Health Honorarmanagement AG, which established itself over the following years particularly as a service provider for dental practices.[13][14]

### Since 2005

[edit]

In July 2005 the group acquired a majority stake in Europe Matrix Financial Services S.A. with operations in Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia.[15] In fiscal 2007/08 it entered Russia, China and the Benelux countries. At the same time the group acquired a stake in direct marketing specialist CoXulto (Stuttgart). By the end of this period the group had almost 3,500 employees.[16][17][18][19] In 2009 the group purchased the Spanish debt collection service provider Acción de Cobro from Banco Pastor.[20][21] It entered the Croatian market by establishing EOS Matrix d.o.o.[22] Thanks to a majority shareholding in WCF Finetrading AG, the group expanded its activities in commodity pre-financing,[23] a business segment that the company then relinquished in 2017.[24]

A location in Ukraine was established in 2010.[25][26] In the same year, the company strengthened its presence in the USA through the acquisition of True North AR.[27] This was followed in 2011 by the purchase of a majority stake in Hoepers Recuperadora de Crédito S.A, a debt collection service provider in Brazil.[28] Since April 2011 the company has also been offering its services in France following its takeover of debt collection company Credirec.[29] The group acquired the Canadian debt collection company Nor-Don Collection Network (NCN) in 2011.[30] In 2013 the group took over the debt collection unit of Spanish bank Banco Popular,[31] and purchased the company SAF Forderungsmanagement from Deutsche Telekom.[32] In 2015 it acquired the Swisscom debt collection subsidiary Alphapay. [33][34] At the end of 2015 EOS and Euler Hermes sold Bürgel to CRIF.[35][36] The group strengthened its market position in France and Belgium in 2016 through the purchase of Contentia.[37]

In 2016 the group took on an administrative role (Verwaltungshelfer) for the recovery of outstanding debts for the administrative district of Wittenberg,[38] and acted in a similar way in the same year for the Bundesagentur für Arbeit.[39][40][41] The city of Essen engaged three debt collection service providers in 2016 including EOS.[42]

On 1 March 2017 Klaus Engberding became Chairman of the Board of Directors of EOS Holding GmbH.[43][3] He succeeded Hans-Werner Scherer, who had led the group for many years.[43][44][45]

At the end of 2018, the Group sold Health AG and the Swiss Zahnärztekasse AG to BAWAG P.S.K.[46]

On February 1, 2022, Marwin Ramcke took over as CEO.

## Present day

[edit]

### Range of services and customers

[edit]

The group provides international financial services mainly in receivables management. Its three main areas of activity are fiduciary collection, receivables purchasing and business process outsourcing.[47] The company says it serves around 20,000 customers,[3][48] including primarily mail order companies and online retailers, banks, telecoms companies, utilities, the real estate business and the public sector.[49]

### Organisation and locations

[edit]

EOS is a member of the Otto Group.[3] It dominates the financial services segment within the group[50][51][52] and is regarded within the group as having very high margins.[45][53] At the beginning of the year 2020,[2] the group included more than 60 operating companies.[48][54] It has established locations in 26 countries[55] in Europe[4] and North America.[5] The company's US subsidiary is EOS CCA.[56]

### Financial information

[edit]

The group's fiscal year begins – like that of the Otto Group – on 1 March and ends on 28 February of the following year, or 29 February in leap years. In 2019/20 the company achieved a revenue of 853,1 million euros.[2] Since 2005, credit rating agency Euler Hermes Rating has consistently awarded EOS Holding the rating A.[57][58][59][60]

## Miscellaneous

[edit]

### Surveys on payment practices and financing methods

[edit]

For many years the group has been conducting surveys on payment practices in various European countries. In addition, it investigates payment practices by systematically comparing specific countries or defined groups, e.g. of companies in Germany.[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69]

In 2003 the group funded a study at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf on new financing methods for small and medium-sized enterprises.[70] In addition, an "EOS Financial Panel" developed and operated over several years to investigate and inform on the use of various financing instruments.[71][72]

### Criticisms

[edit]

The press occasionally criticises the debt collecting practices of group companies. This criticism is related to demands for payment of sums that are decades old,[73][74][75] or demands made despite incorrect invoices[75][76] or charges that are excessively high and/or are questionable.[7][77] However, among debt counsellors the company is regarded as "a provider about which there are only a few complaints".[45]

### Data theft 2017

[edit]

In April 2017 around 33,000 files from EOS Schweiz AG got into the hands of the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. They were said to include sensitive personal data like medical files, correspondence and credit card bills showing the names of creditors and debtors, their registered addresses and information on the amount of outstanding debt. The newspaper said that it had obtained the data from an informer, but the informer stated that they were acquired from hackers who had found a vulnerability in the server software. The company closed the security gap and announced an overhaul of processes.[78][79][80][81]

### Buildings

[edit]

Building in Prague

The head office is located on the Steindamm, a street in Hamburg's St. Georg district. This property of the Karl and Rudolf Förster heirs was designed by Adolf Böhringer, built from 1966 to 1967, extended laterally in 2003 and energetically renovated in 2011.[82][83]

The building that accommodates the company's Czech subsidiary EOS KSI Česká republika, s.r.o. was built in Prague between 1955 and 1958 according to plans produced by architect Karel Prager. It initially housed a research centre for communication named after Russian physicist Alexander Stepanovich Popov.[84]

## Appendix

[edit]

### Further reading

[edit]

* EOS Holding GmbH & Co. KG: EOS 10 years. EOS – eine Erfolgsgeschichte. [Hamburg 2010].
* Deutscher Inkasso-Dienst: 25 Jahre erfolgreich und innovativ. 1974–1999. Die Chronik. [Hamburg 1999].

### External links

[edit]

* EOS Group

### References

[edit]

1. ^ "Otto Group: Otto Group: Change in Executive Board of EOS Group".
2. ^ a b c d e "EOS Annual Report 2019/2020" (PDF). Website of EOS. Retrieved 2020-07-22.
3. ^ a b c d Schuldeneintreiber mit Imageproblem. Eines der größten Inkasso-Unternehmen in Deutschland versucht, den Ruf seiner Zunft zu verbessern. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2017-05-17.
4. ^ a b PricewaterhouseCoopers (2017-10-15). "Redefiningthe non-core. PwC Europe's distressed debt market overview" (PDF). www.pwc.at. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
5. ^ a b Ryan, Greg (2015-12-07). "Mass. firm fined for collecting on allegedly bogus AT&T debt". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
6. ^ "EOS Canada Inc". Dun & Bradstreet. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
7. ^ a b Kunze, Anne (2015-10-08). "Das Geschäft mit der Angst". Die Zeit (online) (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-26.
8. ^ Jan de Leur: Eintreiber. In: BAG-Handelsmagazin, 3/1993, p. 36 f.
9. ^ a b c Inkasso-Holding EOS weiter auf Wachstumskurs. In: Die Welt, 2001-03-24.
10. ^ Hans-Jörg Werth: Auf Wachstum abonniert. Ein Teamchef mit Visionen: Hans-Werner Scherer, Chef des Hamburger Finanzdienstleisters EOS, will den Umsatz bis 2010 verfünffachen. In: Welt am Sonntag, 2002-01-13.
11. ^ Otto Group: Geschäftsbericht 2003, p. 37.
12. ^ Volker Mester: Der Inkasso-Riese. Hamburger EOS jetzt auch in den USA tätig. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, 2001-03-23.
13. ^ Grit Beecken: Tauschgeschäfte. In: Financial Times Deutschland, 2007-05-03.
14. ^ "Deutsche sparen an Zuzahlungen für ihre Zähne". Die Welt (in German). 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
15. ^ "Finanzdienstleister EOS engagiert sich auf dem griechischen Markt". Die Welt (in German). 2005-07-20. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
16. ^ PPE Group kooperiert mit EOS. In: Der Versandhausberater, 2007-07-13.
17. ^ EOS kooperiert mit Fortis in Benelux. In: Der Versandhausberater, 2007-12-14.
18. ^ EOS übernimmt Mehrheit bei CoXulto. In: Der Versandhausberater, 2008-01-18.
19. ^ COXULTO. EOS übernimmt Mehrheit des Adressdienstleisters. In: ONEtoONE, 2008-01-28.
20. ^ "El Banco Pastor vende la compañía Acción de Cobro y logra 21 millones en plusvalías". El Confidencial (in Spanish). 2009-09-08. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
21. ^ EOS acquires Spanish agency. In: Credit Today GBR, 2009-10-01.
22. ^ EOS gründet für Inkasso in Kroatien. In: Versandhausberater.de, 2009-05-08.
23. ^ Schneider, Michael (2009-10-24). "Otto-Tochter EOS erwirbt Mehrheit an Finanzierer WCF". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-23.
24. ^ Philipp Habdank: Knackpunkt Bonität. In: Markt und Mittelstand, 2017-09-01.
25. ^ Schneider, Michael (2010-11-30). "Inkassofirma EOS. Otto-Tochter treibt nun auch in der Ukraine Schulden ein". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-23.
26. ^ EOS gründet Unternehmen in der Ukraine. In: versandhausberater.de, 2010-12-03.
27. ^ Otto-Tochter EOS wächst weiter im Ausland. In: Die Welt, 2011-09-20.
28. ^ Merker, Júlia (2014-11-03). "EOS Hoepers: novo diretor de operações" [EOS Hoepers: new director of operations]. www.baguete.com (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-01-17.
29. ^ "Inkasso. EOS-Gruppe kauft sich in Frankreich ein". Die Welt (in German). 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
30. ^ Otto-Tochter Eos expandiert nach Kanada. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, 2011-11-09.
31. ^ Marktnotizen. In: Immobilien & Finanzierung – Der Langfristige Kredit, 2013-02-01, p. 104.
32. ^ "Eos übernimmt Inkassounternehmen von der Deutschen Telekom". NPL-Bibliothek (Website of Bundesvereinigung Kreditankauf und Servicing e.V.) (in German). Archived from the original on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
33. ^ Swisscom. Vente d'Alphapay. In: 24 heures, 2018-05-05.
34. ^ M&A Review, Vol. 26, 6/2015, p. 265.
35. ^ Italiener kaufen Hamburger Bürgel-Gruppe. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, 2012-12-22.
36. ^ Inkassodienst Bürgel wird nach Italien verkauft. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 2016-01-05.
37. ^ "Contentia France SASU". mergr.com. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
38. ^ Duclaud, Marcel (2016-03-21). "Finanzen Landkreis Wittenberg: Profis helfen Schulden eintreiben". Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-24.
39. ^ Inkasso-Firmen für BA unterwegs. In: Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, 2016-10-20.
40. ^ Bundesagentur setzt Inkassounternehmen ein. In: Winsener Anzeiger, 2016-10-21.
41. ^ Höhne, Valerie (2016-10-31). "Arbeitsagentur beauftragt Inkassofirmen. Geld eintreiben für die Jobcenter". Die Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-24.
42. ^ Beate Behnke-Hahne: Erprobung der Zusammenarbeit. Pilotprojekt der Stadt Essen mit externen Dienstleistern. In: Behörden Spiegel, 2017-11-08.
43. ^ a b Personalien. In: Lebensmittel Zeitung, 2016-07-08.
44. ^ See Hans-Jörg Werth: Auf Wachstum abonniert. Ein Teamchef mit Visionen: Hans-Werner Scherer, Chef des Hamburger Finanzdienstleisters EOS, will den Umsatz bis 2010 verfünffachen. In: Welt am Sonntag, 2002-01-13. Besides "Hans-Werner Scherer wurde am 24. Mai 1954 in Neukirchen geboren …". Welt am Sonntag (in German). 2016-08-28. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
45. ^ a b c Hielscher, Henryk (2013-05-21). "Inkasso... find' ich gut". Wirtschaftswoche (online) (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-23.
46. ^ Bawag steigt ins Zahn-Factoring ein [Bawag enters into tooth factoring]. Börsen-Zeitung, 2018-12-22.
47. ^ Klostermeier, Johannes (2017-12-21). "Weickert leitet IT der Otto-Tochter EOS" [Weickert is head of IT at the Otto subsidiary EOS]. www.cio.de (in German). Retrieved 2019-01-17.
48. ^ a b EOS Group (2019-07-16). "EOS annual report 2018/19" (PDF). EOS Solutions.
49. ^ Volker Mester: Otto-Tochter will Inkasso-Image verbessern. Hamburger Unternehmen Eos kämpft gegen das Bild gewalttätiger Geldeintreiber und schafft mehr als neue 100 Arbeitsplätze. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, 2017-05-22.
50. ^ The Handelsblatt said mockingly 2012, OTTO is "a financial services provider with affiliated retail". See Kontio, Carina; Ludowig, Kirsten; Schlautmann, Christoph (2012-07-20). "Für Tradition kann man sich nichts kaufen". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-20. "Deutschlands größter Katalogversender ist damit ein Finanzdienstleister mit angeschlossenem Einzelhandel."
51. ^ Hielscher, Henryk (2013-05-21). "Inkasso... find' ich gut". Wirtschaftswoche (online) (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-20. "'Im Grunde ist Otto ein Finanz- und Inkassodienstleister mit angeschlossenem Handelsgeschäft', sagt Jörg Funder, geschäftsführender Direktor des Instituts für Internationales Handels- und Distributionsmanagement an der Hochschule Worms."
52. ^ Otto Group: Geschäftsbericht 2016/17 Archived 2021-09-20 at the Wayback Machine, p. 79. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
53. ^ Doll, Frank; Riedl, Anton; Schwerdtfeger, Heike; Hoyer, Niklas (2016-06-25). "Die Anlagetipps der Woche. Wachstumswert Actelion, Otto verdient mit Inkasso und Geheimtipp Burford glänzt. Aktien, Anleihen und Fonds für die private Geldanlage". Wirtschaftswoche (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-25.
54. ^ "Wechsel in der Geschäftsführung der EOS Gruppe" [Change in the management of the EOS Group]. www.business-on.de (in German). 2017-01-19. Archived from the original on 2018-08-25. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
55. ^ "Sensible Schuldnerdaten eines Inkassounternehmens öffentlich gemacht". Wired (German edition) (in German). 2017-12-27. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
56. ^ "EOS Group Acquires Canadian Debt Collection Agency NCN". insideARM. Nov 8, 2011. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
57. ^ EOS-Konzern veröffentlicht Geschäftszahlen und erhält Ratingnote A. In: versandhausberater.de, 2010-09-03.
58. ^ "Finanzinvestor EOS erhält A-Rating" [Financial investor EOS receives A rating]. goingpublic.de (in German). 2020-07-02. Retrieved 2020-07-28.
59. ^ Euler Hermes Rating Deutschland GmbH (2013-07-17). "Veröffentlichung des Ratingergebnisses der EOS Holding GmbH" (PDF). ehrg.de (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-04-28. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
60. ^ "EOS отново получи престижния рейтинг "А" за финансова стабилност" [EOS again received the prestigious A rating for financial stability.]. novini247.com (in Bulgarian). 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
61. ^ Immer mehr Verbraucher überschuldet. In: Leipziger Volkszeitung, 2003-09-18.
62. ^ "Osteuropäer sind "brave Schuldner"". Der Standard. 2010-09-13. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
63. ^ Weniger arme Schuldner. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2008-01-31.
64. ^ Weniger sozial Schwache unter den Schuldnern. In: Der Tagesspiegel, 2008-01-31.
65. ^ Inkasso: Frauen zahlen früher. In: Impulse, 2009-01-01.
66. ^ Braver Süden. Zahlungsmoral: Viele Firmen fürchten eine steigende Zahl unbezahlter Forderungen. In: Wirtschaftswoche, 2009-07-27.
67. ^ Dierig, Carsten (2014-08-04). "Jede vierte Rechnung zu spät beglichen". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-24.
68. ^ Marc Beise: Säumig selig. Jeder sechste Deutsche zahlt Rechnungen zu spät – oder gar nicht. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2014-08-08.
69. ^ Dierig, Carsten (2016-06-22). "Säumige Kunden sind ein Warnsignal für Konjunkturprobleme". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-24.
70. ^ Gerhard und Lore Kienbaum-Stiftung. Jochen Kienbaum, Christoph J. Börner (Eds.): Neue Finanzierungswege für den Mittelstand. Von der Notwendigkeit zu den Gestaltungsformen. Gabler, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-409-12477-2 (Mentioning of EOS as a partner).
71. ^ Hans-Werner Scherer: EOS Finanzpanel: Mittelstandsfinanzierung unter der Lupe. In: Controlling & management review. Zeitschrift für Controlling & Management, Vol. 49 (2005), issue 6, p. 388–393.
72. ^ EOS-Finanzpanel: Der deutsche Mittelstand setzt zunehmend auf langfristige Kredite. In: VerkehrsRundschau, 10/2007, p. 41.
73. ^ Oliver Meyer: Oma Biggi und der Otto-Irrsinn. In: Express, 2013-06-09.
74. ^ Oliver Meyer: Inkasso-Betrug: Noch ein Opfer. In: Express, 2013-06-17.
75. ^ a b Inkasso-Irrsinn. In: Computer Magazin für die Praxis, 2016-11-03, p. 34 f.
76. ^ Georg Schnurer: In der Falle. Gerichtlicher Mahnbescheid trotz zweifelhafter Forderung. In. c't, 2017-05-27, p. 68.
77. ^ Thomas Öchsner: Seelenmassage für arme Schlucker. In: Donaukurier, 1993-01-18.
78. ^ Hurtz, Simon; Ludwig, Kristiana; Tanriverdi, Hakan (2017-12-27). "Schwerwiegendes Datenleck legt Zehntausende Schuldnerdaten offen". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2018-02-23.
79. ^ "Hacker erbeuten Zehntausende Daten von Inkassofirma". Die Zeit (online) (in German). 2017-12-27. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
80. ^ Gyr, Marcel (2017-12-28). "Ärzte geben heikle Daten weiter". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2018-06-28.
81. ^ Kristina Ludwig, Hakan Tanriverdi, Simon Hutz: Inkassobüro speichert ganze Krankengeschichten. In: Tages-Anzeiger, 2018-12-28.
82. ^ Website of Bürohaus am Steindamm, Retrieved 2018-05-30.
83. ^ Paolo Bertoldi, Barbara Cunibert: The European GreenBuilding Projects Catalogue July 2011 – August 2012, p. 47.
84. ^ Kašpar, Milan; Michálková, Alena (2016-06-18). "Architekt Karel Prager (1923–2001)". stavebnictvi3000.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2018-04-25.