Travelex hires Lloyds man as CEO
TRAVELEX, the world’s largest foreign exchange provider, has lured Peter Jackson from Lloyds Banking Group to become its new chief executive.
The 34-year-old will take the helm at Travelex early in the spring when he leaves Lloyds, where he heads up the consumer banking division.
Jackson’s appointment fuelled speculation that the company, which is 56 per cent owned by private equity house Apax Partners, could be floated on the stock market or put up for sale. Travelex chairman Lloyd Dorfman said Apax is starting to consider exit options after acquiring the stake for £1bn in 2005. “An IPO is one route, but there are other routes as well,” he said.
He added it’s “not impossible” that this could happen this year, but insisted that there were no imminent plans for a float.
Dorfman, who set up Travelex in 1976 by opening a shop in Holborn, is the second-largest shareholder, with 28 per cent of the business.
Standard Chartered holds a seven per cent stake. Travelex reported a 14 per cent drop in earnings before interest, tax, debt and amortisation for the first half of 2009. Dorfman said earnings improved in the second half and that the full-year figure should only be slightly down on the £133m made in 2008. Dorfman has acted as chief executive since the departure of Apax representative Robert Gogel last May.