A private equity-backed company set up almost a decade ago to target the UK credit card market has sealed its largest deal to date with the acquisition of a portfolio of loans from US bank Citigroup.

SAV Credit, owned by a consortium comprising Värde Partners, Palamon Capital Partners, Electra Private Equity and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners, has acquired UK credit cards sold under the Citigroup brand for an undisclosed sum, according to a statement. The portfolio includes 539,000 accounts worth £835m (€926m).