WH Ireland is in acquisition discussions with chief executive Phillip Wale’s former employer Cantor Fitzgerald Europe.
In a note issued to the stock market on Monday, WH Ireland confirmed recent press speculation it is in talks on “the possible acquisition, transfer or introduction of certain assets of part of CFE’s mid cap and Aim corporate finance business”.
“However, at this stage, such discussions are preliminary, require certain third-party consents and there can be no guarantee that any transaction will occur,” it added.
Wale (pictured) worked at Cantor Fitzgerald as head of fixed income before joining WH Ireland in 2018.
Earlier this month it was revealed up to 30 London-based staff in Cantor Fitzgerald’s UK small and medium-sized business team could lose their jobs if the division could not be sold.
Portfolio Adviser understands WH Ireland sees itself in good shape to acquire these elements of Cantor Fitzgerald.
On 2 April, WH Ireland issued a trading update in which it anticipated an operating loss of £2.2m for the year ending 31 March. The firm’s hopes of becoming profitable by the year end were dealt a blow after Covid-19 hit corporate activity in February and March.
But the company said it had taken “decisive actions” to better align costs with lower levels of revenue generation. In particular, it has accelerated the move to a greater element of remuneration being related to profitability, from 1 April.
Speaking to Portfolio Adviser at the time Wale said the remuneration changes were “a bit more severe than we originally envisaged” but related more to the corporate broking side of the business than its wealth management operation.
In July last year, Wale told Portfolio Adviser with £7.7m of cash on its balance sheet he believed the firm would be profitable by the end of the current financial year. This followed a loss of £11.3m in 2018.
