THE founder of Liverpool-based fund management firm MAM Funds revealed yesterday that he turned down an offer to rejoin the company’s board.
Fund manager Simon Edwards, who used to be the firm’s chief executive, said he preferred to continue in his current role running company funds, rather than resume boardroom duties.
Mr Edwards was made the offer as part of a management buyout deal that will see £20m of fresh capital pumped into the business and former Gartmore fund manager Gervais Williams become managing director.
Mr Edwards is also selling 7.6m shares worth £2.5m. He told LDP Business: “I’m staying on as a fund manager. It’s what I do these days and I’m really quite happy with that. All I want to do is look after my clients’ money and my personal wealth. I would rather focus my time on managing the money and running the Liverpool office.
“Gervais had multiple offers from the big names in fund management, but he chose to join MAM. It’s very exciting for the company.”
Mr Edwards founded MAM in 2002. It now has more than £1.7bn of private and institutional funds under management. He earned £20m from the partial sale of the business when it floated on the Alternative Investment Market in 2008. More than £10m of Mr Edwards’s sale proceeds are invested in MAM funds.
The MBO team has been backed by money raised through the issue of new shares. That placing offer was launched last week and has been “significantly oversubscribed”. The MBO deal is due to be confirmed at an extraordinary general meeting on February 14.
Small companies specialist Mr Williams is one of three new directors joining the board. He spent five years at Throgmorton Investment Management before joining Gartmore, where he stayed for 17 years. Along with other high-profile departures from Gartmore, he quit the firm suddenly last year. The 30-year-old Gartmore name will disappear this summer following its acquisition by rival Henderson.
The other new board recruits are chairman- elect Ian Dighe and former Chase de Vere marketing director Graham Hooper.
Mr Edwards added: “The new team will add significant new skill- sets to the board, and that’s got to be good news for the business. It will help attract new investment funds and encourage other quality people to join us. It also resolves some financial issues surrounding the business.”
The £20m raised will be used to pay off £17m of debt and to redeem preference shares. In March, 2009, MAM, then trading as Midas Capital, was forced to swap debt for equity after it had overstretched its finances when it agreed a reverse takeover to achieve its AIM listing. Mr Edwards stepped down as chief executive at the same time.
