Alchemy Partners has sold its near-30 per cent stake in Seymour Pierce to the investment bank’s employee benefit trust.
Alchemy has held the stake since April 2003, when it backed a £7.35 million management buyout of Seymour Pierce’s investment banking division. The buyout was led by Keith Harris, the chairman, and Richard Feigen, the head of investment banking, with about 60 staffers putting in £3.5 million of their own money.
Alchemy has been reviewing its investments and operations since the departure of Jon Moulton, its founder, who is also a close friend of Mr Harris. The selling price has not been disclosed, but it is understood that Alchemy has more than recouped its original investment.
The deal means that Seymour Pierce will be about 95 per cent owned by present and former staff and management. The remaining 5 per cent stake has been retained by Nigel Wray, the entrepreneur and owner of Saracens rugby club, who backed the original buyout.
Mr Harris, a former Football League chairman who is involved in the Red Knights consortium that might bid for Manchester United, said: “I am delighted with this transaction since it demonstrates the confidence that our management and staff have in the future of the firm. From today Seymour Pierce is truly in charge of its own destiny as the City’s leading employee-owned investment banking group.”
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Seymour Pierce also reported that, in the six months to the end of March, it had returned to the black. The company made operating profits of £4.5 million during the period, compared with a pre-tax loss of £3 million during the year to the end of September 2009, when it was forced to make a £1.65 million provision over an unpaid fee owed to its corporate finance arm.
The sum, which was owed in respect of the Hong Kong entrepreneur Carson Yeung’s takeover of Birmingham City Football Club, has since been paid after Seymour Pierce successfully sued.