(Alliance News) - Cenkos Securities PLC on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of Ben Procter as chief financial officer and chief operating officer, while providing an update on its proposed merger with finnCap Group PLC at its annual general meeting.
Cenkos and finnCap are both London-based stockbrokers.
Effective from the conclusion of its AGM on Wednesday, Cenkos said Ben Procter has joined the board as CFO and COO, as announced in December, subject to approval by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. The FCA approved the appointment in late March.
Procter previously worked as co-head of finance technology, head of service management & billing at UBS in both the UK and the US.
Ahead of the AGM, Cenkos also released a statement saying it is continuing to work on its proposed merger with finnCap.
In late March, both stockbrokers agreed on an all-share merger that will see each set of shareholders equally own the combined company and the existing chief executives Julian Morse and John Farrugia, respectively, becoming co-CEOs.
Cenkos and finnCap shareholders each will own about half of the enlarged company. Cenkos shareholders will receive 3.19 finnCap shares for each Cenkos share, valued at 37.13 pence per share. This gives an equal value to each company of GBP21.1 million.
Cenkos shares were down 3.7% to 36.60 pence each in London on Wednesday afternoon, while finnCap shares were up 2.3% to 11.00p each.
On Wednesday, Cenkos said it continues to work on the execution of "this exciting transaction", having posted the scheme document to shareholders in late April. It added it will hold requisite court and general meetings on Wednesday next week.
It also said Cenkos' revenue for the year to date continues to track ahead of the average run-rate for the second half of 2022.
"So far this year we have added six new clients, undertaken nine fundraisings, including the [initial public offering] of Onward Opportunities Ltd, and have a solid pipeline of further potential IPOs, secondary fundraisings and [mergers and acquisitions] transactions being worked on," Cenkos said in a statement.
"As a firm, we remain focused on cost control, growing our market share and providing a first-class service to our clients and remain poised to take advantage of improving market conditions."
By Greg Rosenvinge, Alliance News reporter
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