Payzone chief executive John Nagle and chief financial officer John Williamson are discussing the terms of their departure from the electronic payments and ATM company, The Irish Timeshas learned.
The company's shares have lost approximately 33 per cent of their value since its flotation on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London less than two months ago.
Payzone's listing on December 5th followed a reverse takeover of Blackpool-based cash machine operator Cardpoint by Alphyra, the Dublin-based electronics payments company that Mr Nagle set up in 1989. The shares, which listed at 76p, closed last night at 51p.
As talks continued last night, it emerged that Payzone's board was preparing to install its chairman Bob Thian in the role of interim chief executive.
The chairman of Cardpoint prior to the Alphyra deal, Mr Thian will remain in that position until the appointment of a permanent successor to Mr Nagle. Alphyra's shareholders owned 59 per cent of Payzone after the merger, which was agreed last September.
Amid extreme volatility in international markets, Payzone decided 10 days before the listing to cancel plans for private equity group Balderton to sell half its 67 per cent stake in Alphyra and for Alphyra management to sell half its 32 per cent interest.
This deprived both parties of a significant return, as Balderton had been expected to realise approximately €100 million from the sale and Alphyra management had been expected to realise a little less than €50 million.
The market may be formally notified as early as today of the departure of Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson, his colleague for some 10 years.
Such notification is likely to say that Balderton, formerly known as Benchmark Capital, will retain its stake in Payzone for the medium term.
It is understood that Balderton, which backed Mr Nagle when he took Alphyra off the stock market in 2003, has been under pressure from Payzone's institutional shareholders to lock in for at least six months.
Mr Nagle established a business called ITG in 1989 to provide maintenance services for business telephone systems. Having moved into electronic payments, the company was floated on the stock market in 1997. ITG's name was changed to Alphyra in 2001 and the business was delisted in 2003 when Mr Nagle led a €112 million management buyout with Benchmark's support.
Payzone has won the contract to operate barrier-free tolling on the M50. The company announced yesterday that Beteire Flow, the French operator of the M50 has awarded it the contract to manage retail and on-line payments for use of the road.
