City veteran Adam Wilson takes helm at Daniel Stewart
STOCKBROKING doyen Adam Wilson, the former chief executive of Hichens Harrison, has joined loss-making City broker Daniel Stewart as chief executive in a bid to revamp the business.
Wilson’s appointment comes after Daniel Stewart yesterday said it had secured a deal to buy Dubai-based financial consulting business Mena-RL, which was set up by Wilson after he sold Hichens Harrison to India’s Religare Enterprises for £55m in 2008.
Daniel Stewart said it would issue 50m shares for the acquisition, valuing Mena-RL at £1.1m based on the stock’s Friday close of 2.125p.
Wilson, currently a non-executive director at the firm, takes over as chief executive from Peter Shea, who becomes executive chairman.
Shea said yesterday that the acquisition would help the firm expand its reach in overseas markets, given Mena-RL’s presence in the Middle East and South Africa.
“It is becoming more and more important to look overseas to increase distribution, especially given the difficult markets in the UK over the past few years,” Shea said.
He added that the firm hopes to return to profit following the impact of the acquisition, after seeing “signs of life” in the first part of the year.
Daniel Stewart posted a pre-tax loss of £699,000 for the six months to September after being hit hard by the pressures of the downturn on the small-cap broking sector.
Earlier this month, the firm hired ex-WH Ireland director David Youngman as its new head of corporate finance.
ADAM WILSON
NEWLY-APPOINTED CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF BROKER DANIEL STEWART
WILSON is one of the best-known names in the small to mid cap broking sector even at the tender age of 38, thanks to his two most high profile roles at City stockbrokers Teather and Greenwood and Hichens Harrison.
Wilson qualified as a barrister before joining NM Rothschild as a trainee in 1994. He joined Teathers in 1997 and became head of derivatives, before moving to Hichens Harrison in 2003. While there, he was appointed chief executive, managing to secure a lucrative deal to sell the firm to India’s Religare Enterprises in 2008. He has since been based in Dubai, building up his new business at Mena-RL, but also holds a role as non-executive chairman at Aim-listed Atlantic Coal.