Following the recent relevant regulatory approvals of Mr Charles-Henri Sabet and GLIO, as announced by the Company on August 14, 2014, embattled British spread betting company London Capital Group (LCG) (LCG:L) has today confirmed that Mr Charles-Henri Sabet has been appointed as Executive Chairman of the Company with immediate effect.
Congruently, LCG has also confirmed that Giles Vardey is stepping down as Chairman. He will remain on the Board in the role of non-executive senior independent director.
LCG issued a press release via the London Stock Exchange in June stating that it plans to raise up to £17.5 million through a proposed convertible note financing, essentially selling control of the company as part of the deal to Mr. Sabet.
At the time, the company was worth approximately £14 million (about $24 million), and has a requirement to raise more than that in new equity. It was asserted that between £12.5-£15.0M of the amount would come from Mr. Sabet, and the remainder, £0.5-2.5M, from other investors.
Recent times have been turbulent for LCG, with consistent negative entries in its balance book, subsequently having become a target for acquisition during the early stages of 2013. At the time, GAIN Capital, Cantor Fitzgerald Europe and City Index had shown interest in purchasing the firm, all of whom dropped their interest, forcing LCG to remain independent and attempt to redress its financial strife alone, until now.
Mr. Sabet has a great deal of experience in financial and Foreign Exchange markets. He set up Trading and Commercial Consulting, a financial organisation specialising in foreign exchange. He was also founder and Chairman of Synthesis Bank Geneva, which was sold to Saxo Bank (Switzerland) SA in 2007.
In addition to these senior postings, Mr. Sabet was appointed as Chairman and Head of Global Trading of the Saxo Group. He currnetly holds the position of director of GIO Global Investments Opportunities Management Ltd which offers proprietary trading and investment services. Until its sale in April 2014, Mr Sabet was also a Non-Executive director of JIFFIX Markets Ltd, a Cyprus based investment firm specialising in foreign exchange brokerage which this week transferred its entire client base to Traders Trust and recinded its CIF license which was issued by Cypriot regulatory authority CySec.
Mr Sabet has spent a considerable amount of time getting to know the Company’s business, understanding the Group and the Board’s longer-term growth strategy. The Board looks forward to his active involvement in the day-to-day running of the Company.
For the entire release via London Stock Exchange, click here.