ThomasLloyd Group plc have sold 80% of its owned subsidiary, SCHNIGGE Wertpapierhandelsbank AG, to a private equity fund of Augur Capital.
The parties agreed not to disclose the terms of the transaction which involves an initial cash payment as well as potential further payments based on SCHNIGGE’s future business performance.
While the sale marks the end of ThomasLloyd’s stake in SCHNIGGE, the Group will continue to remain closely involved with the business for the next two years. Tony Coveney, executive director of ThomasLloyd, will continue to serve on SCHNIGGE’s supervisory board and remain active in helping to maximise the growth potential evident in the scalability of SCHNIGGE’s business model.
Based on the performance of funds and pre-IPO stock trading, SCHNIGGE intends to develop the online broking business, and capitalise on opportunities presented by the implementation of MIFID, which came into effect on November 1, 2007, to extend SCHNIGGE’s activities beyond the German borders.
“We are pleased to be announcing our successful sale of our stake in SCHNIGGE and look forward to working with Augur Capital in unlocking further value in the business, building on the significant progress SCHNIGGE has made over the last two years in Germany. We remain confident in its growth potential and we look forward to working in partnership with Augur Capital to develop the business further in the future,” says Michael Sieg, chairman and CEO, ThomasLloyd Group plc.
“We are delighted that we can strengthen our position as a leading German private equity investor in financial services businesses in Germany with this investment,” adds Gnther Skrzypek, managing partner, Augur Capital AG.