Diamond’s private equity vehicle, Atlas Merchant Capital and QInvest made the £15.5m ($19.1m, €17.8m) agreed bid on Friday in a London Stock Exchange announcement.
Tamim Al-Kawari, chief executive of QInvest said to the market: “We have been major investors in Panmure Gordon for more than seven years and are excited about this opportunity to work with Atlas to develop the business, alongside its management team and employees, and to assist it in fulfilling its potential.”
Matthew Hansen, the head of UK and Europe for Atlas, said: “We believe there is significant opportunity for Atlas, in partnership with QInvest, to apply our operational skills and financial services expertise to enhance Panmure Gordon’s strong reputation and build a larger, successful boutique investment bank. This long term stabilisation and development can only realistically be achieved as a private company, out of the glare of the public market and the effects of share price movement.”
Andrew Adcock, chairman of Panmure Gordon said: “The independent Panmure Gordon directors believe that the cash consideration will be attractive in providing Panmure Gordon shareholders with an opportunity to exit at a significant premium to the current share price. Against the backdrop of a challenging macro-economic environment, with the resultant market volatility which has in recent years impacted Panmure Gordon’s business, the independent Panmure Gordon directors believe that the scheme price reflects a fair and reasonable offer.”
Diamond focused on buying banks in Africa after leaving Barclays in 2012 in the wake of the Libor rigging scandal.
