Following the acquisition of long-standing British multi-asset CFD company City Index by GAIN Capital (NYSE:GCAP) on Friday of last week, it has emerged from an industry source close to City Index that Mark Preston, incumbent CEO at City Index, may conclude his position subsequent to the integration of City Index into GAIN Capital’s corporate operations.
LeapRate spoke today with a source close to Mr. Preston, whereby it was proffered that Mr. Preston’s mandate from the IPGL shareholders whilst City Index was an independent company was to make sure the firm could grow organically, be attractive acquisition, or be an attractive partner in an industry consolidation scenario.
“Mr. Preston brought the business to the point where the IPGL shareholders had an option to grow City Index on their own, or place the firm in a position where it could be bought” stated the source.
“Mark saw good synergy with GAIN Capital, and recommended to IPGL to go ahead and allow City Index to be purchased by GAIN Capital. In terms of Mark’s future involvement, he will likely step down as Chairman and CEO, but he may be involved in other ways, but if so, this will be in a non-executive role, thus handing over the leadership responsibility to GAIN Capital’s CEO Glenn Stevens.”
This is congruent with Mr. Stevens’ path ahead for City Index, which includes a well-planned series of developments post-integration, and thus negates the requirement for two sets of directors across both entities as City Index becomes a fully integral part of GAIN Capital.