CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The olive group_® is comprised of multiple industry leading brands, including PayLink Direct, Repair Ventures, olive.com, olive.ca and now Budco Financial, providing leading edge services to the direct-to-consumer protection plan industry and is breaking new ground to transform the way consumers buy, sell and finance breakdown coverage for vehicles, homes and more across the U.S. and Canada.

The olive group’s combined 40+ year presence in the industry includes over $14 billion in receivables originated, over 4 million payments processed annually, and several original equipment manufacturer (OEM) clients.

Through the acquisition of Budco Financial, the olive group_® adds another industry mainstay and longtime well respected Detroit pillar to its portfolio. Budco was founded in 1981 by Bud Brian as an outsourced print and mail marketer for the Detroit “Big Three”. Budco Financial has evolved through several acquisitions to become an industry leader specializing in serving the automotive industry as a payment plan program management solution with a differentiated presence in the OEM marketplace.

The acquisition was funded in part by new investor ScaleCo and other private investors including a large insurance provider in the industry.

Rebecca Howard, Founder and CEO of the olive group_®, said, “Budco Financial is a business we have come to know and admire for many years. We have such respect for Bud Brian, Glenn Fontaine, and the entirety of the Budco team for what they have been able to accomplish. This was a natural fit for our growing platform, the olive group_®, and we are thrilled to add the support of ScaleCo to our existing investor base alongside Fortress Investment Group and Milestone Partners. We are certainly better together and look forward to continuing to evolve the direct-to-consumer protection plan industry through our best-in-class digital platform and payment services business units.”

Bud Brian, Founder of Budco Financial., said, “This is a wonderful match for our employees, customers, and investors. What Rebecca and her team are building is in many ways what the industry needs and the fashion in which they are doing it with a platform of services, with a long-term focus on the customer, will prove to be a great fit for Budco Financial.”

Brendan Anderson, Founder of ScaleCo, said, “The coming together of these businesses and the broadening platform that is the olive group_® marks an exciting milestone in ScaleCo’s ten-year relationship with the Budco team. We are excited to be a part of the journey and are believers in the olive group_® team and vision: a perfect match for ScaleCo’s long-term, team-oriented growth investment strategy.”

About the olive group_®:

The olive group_® with its combined 40+ year history is among the largest and most-trusted providers of digital platforms and payment services to the direct-to-consumer protection plan industry. Our digital platform business unit includes Repair Ventures, olive.com, and olive.ca and allows consumers to buy direct from brands they trust, with no pressure, the way they want to buy, giving them an assortment of coverage and deductible options that are convenient and affordable. Our payment services business unit is comprised of PayLink Direct and Budco Financial and is one of the largest financial service providers of payment plan programs and transaction processing in the protection plan industry. Specializing in providing interest-free payment plans for the purchase of service contracts for vehicles, RVs, homes, commercial trucks and other products, the collective high performing infrastructure has processed over five million protection plans and originated over $14 billion in receivables to date.

About ScaleCo: ScaleCo, currently investing from its fourth committed capital fund, is dedicated to investing in transformable private companies, within driving distance of Cleveland, Ohio. ScaleCo uses a scalable search model; a blended model that combines traditional private equity deal sourcing, elements of search/ETA funds to identify the right people for leadership, and a long-term growth mindset.