24 Feb 2016 07:17
For Immediate Release | 24 February 2016 |
Panmure Gordon & Co. plc
("Panmure Gordon" or the "Company")
Board Change and Shareholder Financing
Panmure Gordon (AIM: PMR), the independent institutional stockbroker and investment bank, announces that Phillip Wale has stepped down from the Board as Chief Executive Officer and is leaving the Company. Patric Johnson, who was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer in October 2015, is appointed Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect, subject to FCA approval.
Patric, 44, joined Panmure Gordon in 2013 from Evolution Group (acquired by Investec in 2012), where he served on the board of Evolution Securities and was Head of Distribution. Prior to this role he was co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of ICAP Equities Ltd. He was appointed to the Board of Panmure Gordon in March 2015.
Since the trading statement issued on 23 December market conditions have continued to be challenging however, since 1 January 2016 the Company has raised a total of £244 million for clients and advised on three corporate transactions including the acquisition of the "i" newspaper by Johnston Press plc and completion of the rights issue for RPC Group plc.
To help fund the continued growth of the business, a £5.0m funding facility has been agreed to be made available to the Company by its main shareholder, QInvest LLC ("QInvest"). The revolving funding facility is Sharia compliant and being provided by QInvest to the Company on an unsecured basis with an initial term of 18 months with a cost of funding equivalent to LIBOR plus 250bp. The Directors of the Company (other than Tamim Al-Kawari, Michael Katounas and Caspar Warre by virtue of their relationship with QInvest LLC) consider, having consulted with the nominated adviser, that the terms of the facility are fair and reasonable insofar as shareholders are concerned.
Tamim Al-Kawari, Non-Executive Director of Panmure Gordon and Chief Executive Officer of QInvest commented:
"We are fully supportive of Panmure Gordon and its senior management team and firmly believe in the long term prospects for the business, which are anchored around its heritage, people, breadth of experience and its plans for the future. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Phillip Wale for his contribution to the firm. We look forward to deepening our relationship with Panmure Gordon as it enters a new phase to ensure value creation for all stakeholders."
Chairman, Ed Warner, said:
"We would like to thank Phillip Wale for his hard work and total dedication to Panmure Gordon over the last four years. The Company is greatly indebted to him for his leadership and the Board wishes him every success in his future endeavours. We are also pleased to welcome Patric to the position of Chief Executive; the Board looks forward to working with him as he implements his strategy for building the business and we very much appreciate the continued support from our major shareholder."
Enquiries:
Panmure Gordon
Patric Johnson, Chief Executive Officer 020 7886 2500
Philip Tansey, Chief Financial Officer 020 7886 2500
Buchanan (Financial PR) 020 7466 5000
Mark Edwards/Helen Chan/Stephanie Watson
panmure@buchanan.uk.com
Grant Thornton UK LLP (Nominated Adviser)
Philip Secrett/Salmaan Khawaja/Jen Clarke 020 7383 5100