Industry: Pharmaceutical, Commercial

Location: Egypt

Results: $1.9M settlement

Background:

A distributor owed a global pharmaceutical company owed for products. Internal collections efforts failed to return an adequate response. After three months, the client placed the claim with Cedar Financial for commercial debt collection.

The Challenge:

The distributor kept delaying payment with excuses, claiming licensing issues with the Egyptian government, setbacks in clearing customs, problems getting timely payments from suppliers and other foreign exchange issues.

In addition, prior to placing the claim with our office, the original creditor subsidiary dissolved its business and a Middle Eastern division of the pharmaceutical company took over. This led to disorganization and difficulty locating documentation for the claim.

Our challenge was getting the Egyptian distributor to address the debt, despite their own challenges and struggles, without supporting documents for the claim.

How Cedar Financial Solved the Problem:

Our local Egypt debt collection office had many face-to-face meetings with the debtor’s board of directors. We patiently explained the potential damages to their business if they failed to pay – including possible blacklisting that would harm future business prospects. 

After months of persistent communications, we succeeded in securing a settlement that was suitable for both client and debtor, recovering $1.9 million for our client.

The Takeaway:

Having a local presence made all the difference in this case, as our professional Egypt debt collectors were able to visit the debtor in person for more effective negotiations.

Familiarity with the local language, customs and laws enabled our collections team to facilitate a very suitable settlement in a country notorious for its difficult collections environment, despite significant challenges with both debtor and creditor.