London: The founder and chairman of Quindell Plc resigned yesterday after a tumultuous few months during which the British IT outsourcing firm has shed more than £2bn ($3.1bn) of its market value.
Robert Terry is stepping down days after Quindell disclosed a complex share transaction involving its chairman and two other directors, who will also leave the board.
With a margin call looming in relation to that transaction, Terry said in a statement that he expected to relinquish his rights to acquire shares under the sale and repurchase agreement with Equities First Holdings LLC, a securities-based lender.
“I am clearly disappointed and sorry that events turned out as they did,” said Terry, who will be retained by Quindell as a consultant.
Quindell, which provides technology used by car insurers to assess claims, had a market capitalisation of about 2.5 billion pounds at its peak in early April. The company was worth about a tenth of that as of Monday’s close.
A report by Gotham City Research LLP in late April sent the stock into a tailspin from which it never fully recovered, despite the fact Quindell later won a libel lawsuit against the US-based short-seller.
The decline has accelerated in the last few days. A statement on Nov. 10, intended to clarify the share purchase by its directors, appeared to confuse the market, said Sophie Blandford, analyst at Daniel Stewart & Co.
That statement made clear that Terry, Finance Director Laurence Moorse and non-executive director Steve Scott would be required to transfer more shares or provide cash to satisfy margin calls should the stock price fall below a certain level.
Moorse will leave the board after Quindell’s 2015 annual general meeting and will stay with the company for up to 12 months thereafter. Scott steps down from the board immediately.
Reuters
