Amigo
Holdings PLC
("Amigo" or the
"Company")
Appointment of James ("Jim") McColl as a Non-Executive
Director
Amigo
Holdings PLC (LSE: AMGO), a provider of mid-cost credit in the
UK that is currently in an orderly solvent wind-down,
announces that Jim McColl will join the Board as a
Non-Executive Director. Jim's appointment as a Non-Executive
Director is expected to be effective from Sunday 1 September
2024.
On 28 March
2024, Amigo Holdings PLC announced that it had appointed Jim as
a Board Consultant to assist the Board in identifying
potential strategic opportunities for Amigo to continue as a listed
company by way of a reverse takeover ("RTO"). The work on
identifying potential RTO candidates continues to make meaningful
progress, which would deliver some value to shareholders that would
otherwise not be possible. However, there can be no
certainty that a reverse takeover will take place. As indicated in
the March 2024 announcement, we are pleased to announce that Jim
will now be joining the Amigo Board, effective from 1 September
2024.
Jim McColl
brings nearly 30 years' experience of creating investor value by
building businesses. Further background information on Jim McColl
is set out in the Appendix below.
Jim McColl
is currently:
· Chairman of Clyde Blowers
· Founder & Non-Executive Director of Alba
Bank
· Chairman of Adam Smith Business School Strategic
Advisory Board
· Member of the Glasgow Economic Leadership
Group
· Member of the Scottish Energy Advisory
Board
· Member of the Scottish Apprenticeship Advisory
Board
Jonathan
Roe, Chair said: "Since March, Jim has been a
Board consultant assisting the Board in identifying potential
strategic opportunities for Amigo to continue as a listed company
by way of a reverse takeover. We are delighted that Jim has
agreed to join Amigo's Board as a Non-Executive Director to
continue to seek a better outcome for Amigo shareholders. There is
no guarantee that a transaction will result, but with Jim's track
record and work to date, we believe we have increased the
possibility of being able to do so."
Jim McColl,
Non-Executive Director said: "I have been working with
the Amigo team for several months and have found them to be
passionate and hard working. I am delighted to join the Board
at this time to help try to find a new role for Amigo. A particular
area of interest will be to explore the opportunity to build Amigo
through acquisition as a wealth management focused group,
supporting SMEs and high net worth individuals, as well as
potentially providing back-office software solutions to support
other developing finance platforms."
Following
the appointment of Jim, the total number of Directors on Amigo's
Board will consist of three independent Non-Executive Directors,
including the Chair, and one Executive Director.
Other than
as set out in the Appendix to this announcement, there is no
further information which is required to be disclosed pursuant to
UKLR6.4.8 in relation to Jim McColl's appointment.
APPENDIX
Jim McColl has specialised in
creating investor value by building businesses for nearly three
decades. Over that period, he has invested in 20 platform
acquisitions, overseen 15 exits including 2 public listings and led
a number of public to private transactions, mergers, demergers,
spin outs and turnarounds.
This has included the successful
turnaround of Clyde Blowers plc, a small engineering company
with a full listing on the London Stock Exchange, in which he
bought a 29.9% stake in 1992. With a 3 % market share, he led the
acquisition strategy of six of the company's seven global
competitors capturing a 60% share of the world market over 5 years
before taking the company private.
Over the past 30+ years Jim
McColl has been the chief architect of significant expansion
and growth for Clyde Blowers, developing the business into a
portfolio of global engineering companies.
In May 2007, the acquisition of
Weir Pumps (Glasgow) from The Weir Group PLC was announced. The
diverse portfolio of technologies, process knowledge and expertise
generated by Weir Pumps was incorporated into a newly created
company, Clyde Pumps Ltd, and in so doing 600 jobs and an
important part of Scotland's engineering heritage was
saved.
In September 2008, Jim led the
largest transaction in Clyde Blowers' history by acquiring the
entire Fluid & Power Division of Textron Inc, an American
Fortune 500 multi-industry company in a deal worth over $1
billion. This included a US company, Union Pumps, which was merged
with Clyde Pumps in 2008 to form Clyde Union Pumps. The combined
business was sold 3 years later in 2011 for a return of 4 x
invested capital and a 60% IRR.
More recently, in 2018, Jim founded
AlbaCo (now Alba Bank) with a view to establishing a new
Scottish based challenger Bank focussed on serving the SME market
with dedicated relationship management and modern digital
IT. Alba Bank expects to be awarded a full Banking
Licence during the 2nd half of 2024 enabling it to take deposits
and start lending.
Jim is actively involved in
promoting enterprise and enterprise education with a particular
interest in improving the life chances for disadvantaged young
people. In 2014 he set up Newlands Junior College. His vision
was to create a Junior College for young teenagers at risk of
disengaging from local secondary schools that would give them
support and opportunity to move on to a successful and rewarding
future by providing alternative curricular programmes.
Newlands' alternative approach
to their education in years S3 and S4 which, in addition to
academic subjects, combined vocational training, life skills,
nutrition and outdoor activities. 92.1% of the students achieved a
positive outcome (moving into employment or further education)
after graduating. It was an outstanding success.
Further UKLR6.4.8
disclosures
Jim McColl was formerly a director of Ferguson Marine
Engineering (Holdings) Limited ("FMHE"), and its subsidiaries
Ferguson Marine Engineering Limited ("FME") and Mackellar
Sub-Sea Limited ("MSS").
· The directors
of FME appointed administrators on 16 August 2019. Jim McColl
ceased to be a director of FME on 23 August 2019. The business and
assets of FME were sold by the administrators on 2 December 2019 to
an entity established, owned and funded by Scottish Ministers and
FME was dissolved on 17 November 2021 with a deficit to secured and
unsecured creditors.
· The directors
of MSS appointed administrators to MSS on 22 October 2019. Jim
McColl ceased to be a director of MSS on 9 December 2019 and MSS
was dissolved on 7 July 2022 with a deficit to secured and
unsecured creditors.
· The directors
of FMHE appointed administrators to FMHE on 22 October 2019. Jim
McColl ceased to be a director of FMHE on 12 December 2019 and FMHE
was dissolved on 19 January 2022 with a deficit to secured and
unsecured creditors.