Ashish Thakkar to Leave African Banking Group He Co-Founded
October 03 2017 - 6:31AM
Dow Jones News
By Margot Patrick
Atlas Mara Ltd. co-founder Ashish Thakkar is leaving the group,
and other officials are also departing, to make way for directors
being installed by new shareholder Fairfax Africa Holdings
Corp.
The African banking group founded by Mr. Thakkar and former
Barclays PLC Chief Executive Bob Diamond got a $200 million
infusion from Fairfax Africa in August, which Atlas Mara is using
to increase its stake in Nigeria's Union Bank. Atlas Mara has said
it would focus on the Nigerian bank as a launchpad for growth after
a rocky four years trying to calm bad loans and get scale at its
other main investment, BancABC, a retail and commercial bank in
five countries.
Atlas Mara on Tuesday said Chief Financial Officer Arina
McDonald will leave immediately to relocate back to South Africa
and pursue other interests. Her temporary replacement is Kenroy
Dowers, group managing director of strategy and investments. Tonye
Cole, an independent director, is also stepping down from the board
but will "remain engaged in our Nigerian operations," the company
said.
The four new directors are Michael Wilkerson, CEO of Fairfax
Africa; Richie Boucher, a former CEO of Bank of Ireland; Hisham Ezz
Al-Arab, chairman of Commercial International Bank of Egypt; and
Quinn McLean, who works at Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel, part
of the broader Fairfax group.
Mr. Thakkar was a budding entrepreneur and enthusiast for
Africa's promise when he met Mr. Diamond at a development
conference in 2013. Within months, they formed Atlas Mara and
raised $625 million in two share offers to buy stakes in African
banks.
Along with Mr. Diamond, Mr. Thakkar was the face of the company,
liaising with investors and introducing company officials to
politicians and regulators in Rwanda, Zimbabwe and elsewhere. Mr.
Diamond has been chairman since Arnold Ekpe's three-year term ended
in December. Chief Executive John Vitalo left abruptly in February,
and the company is now run by three managing directors.
"Ashish played an important role supporting the team in our
fintech business line and government and stakeholder relations, and
will remain available to support us in these areas," Mr. Diamond
said. Mr. Thakkar said in a statement he was proud of what they had
accomplished together.
Atlas Mara stumbled after its initial launch when a chill in
commodity markets hit African economies. Its shares fell out of
favor with investors and traded at $2.70 on Tuesday, down from $10
when shares first listed. Large investors in the company including
Guggenheim Partners LLC and Wellington Management Co. supported the
long-term vision of consolidating and modernizing commercial and
retail banking in sub-Saharan Africa, but other shareholders
drifted away as the financial payoff from the strategy looked to be
years away.
In June, Atlas Mara said Fairfax Africa would buy new shares and
a convertible bond. The infusion gives it the cash to raise its
take in Union Bank of Nigeria PLC to 44.5% from 31%. At the time,
it said Fairfax would appoint four directors.
Write to Margot Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 03, 2017 06:16 ET (10:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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