Rent-A-Center, Inc. Sells Stores in Canada

July 13, 2015 at 8:00 AM EDT
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PLANO, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul. 13, 2015-- Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ/NGS: RCII) today announced that it completed the sale of the assets and operations of 14 rent-to-own stores located in Alberta and Ontario to easyhome Ltd., Canada’s largest merchandise leasing company and a growing provider of financial services. The transaction included the concurrent purchase by the Company of the assets and operations of 3 easyhome rent-to-own stores located in Florida, Missouri and New York.

“Our multi-year plan to improve the profitability and performance of our Core U.S. segment continues to gain traction and deliver results. The sale of these stores allows us to place even greater emphasis on executing these initiatives," said Robert D. Davis, Chief Executive Officer of the Company.

The Company will record in the third quarter of 2015 a pre-tax restructuring charge related to the sale of approximately $1.0 million, which is expected to include costs related to accelerated depreciation expense for fixed assets, leasehold improvements and write-off of merchandise inventory, early lease termination costs and other operating costs to decommission the stores.

A rent-to-own industry leader, Plano, TX-based Rent-A-Center, Inc., is focused on improving the quality of life for its customers by providing them the opportunity to obtain ownership of high-quality, durable products such as consumer electronics, appliances, computers, furniture and accessories, under flexible rental purchase agreements with no long-term obligation. The Company owns and operates approximately 3,000 stores in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico, and approximately 1,430 Acceptance Now kiosk locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Rent-A-Center Franchising International, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a national franchiser of approximately 180 rent-to-own stores operating under the trade names of "Rent-A-Center," "ColorTyme," and "RimTyme." For additional information about the Company, please visit our website at www.rentacenter.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "could," "estimate," "should," "anticipate," or "believe," or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are accurate. However, there can be no assurance that such expectations will occur. The Company's actual future performance could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the general strength of the economy and other economic conditions affecting consumer preferences and spending; factors affecting the disposable income available to the Company's current and potential customers; changes in the unemployment rate; difficulties encountered in improving the financial performance of the Core U.S. segment; failure to manage the Company's labor and benefit rates, advertising and marketing expenses, operating leases, charge-offs due to customer stolen merchandise, other store expenses or indirect spending; the Company’s ability to develop and successfully execute the competencies and capabilities which are the focus of the Company’s strategic initiatives, including those initiatives that are part of its multi-year program designed to transform and modernize the Company’s operations; costs associated with the Company's multi-year program designed to transform and modernize the Company’s operations; the Company's ability to successfully implement its new store information management system; the Company’s ability to successfully market smartphones and related services to its customers; the Company's ability to develop and successfully implement virtual or e-commerce capabilities; the Company's ability to retain the revenue from customer accounts merged into another store location as a result of a store consolidation plan; the Company's ability to execute and the effectiveness of the a consolidation; rapid inflation or deflation in prices of the Company's products; the Company's available cash flow; the Company's ability to identify and successfully market products and services that appeal to its customer demographic; consumer preferences and perceptions of the Company's brand; uncertainties regarding the ability to open new locations; the Company's ability to acquire additional stores or customer accounts on favorable terms; the Company's ability to control costs and increase profitability; the Company's ability to enhance the performance of acquired stores; the Company's ability to retain the revenue associated with acquired customer accounts; the Company's ability to enter into new and collect on its rental or lease purchase agreements; the passage of legislation adversely affecting the rent-to-own industry; the Company's compliance with applicable statutes or regulations governing its transactions; changes in interest rates; adverse changes in the economic conditions of the industries, countries or markets that the Company serves; information technology and data security costs; the Company's ability to protect the integrity and security of individually identifiable data of its customers and employees; the impact of any breaches in data security or other disturbances to the Company's information technology and other networks; changes in the Company's stock price, the number of shares of common stock that it may or may not repurchase, and future dividends, if any; changes in estimates relating to self-insurance liabilities and income tax and litigation reserves; changes in the Company's effective tax rate; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the Company's ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls; the resolution of the Company's litigation; and the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2015. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Source: Rent-A-Center, Inc.

Rent-A-Center, Inc.
Maureen B. Short, 972-801-1899
Senior Vice President - Finance, Investor Relations and Treasury
maureen.short@rentacenter.com