David Anthony, the former CEO of Hitachi
Capital in the UK, has enlisted ex-Moneyway CEO Gary Jennison to
help him take control of struggling asset finance lender Davenham
Group plc.
In an extraordinary meeting to be held on 11
January, shareholders of Davenham (in which Anthony has a 14.9
percent stake) will vote on whether to remove current directors
Paul Burke and James Kerr-Muir, and appoint Anthony and Jennison as
non-exectutive chairman and CEO respectively.
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The Manchester-based commercial finance
provider ceased writing new business halfway through this year,
after taking heavy recessionary losses in its property finance arm.
On the advice of corporate finance advisory firm Hawkpoint
Partners, Davenham said in July that it would focus on collecting
in its asset and property loans in a prudent and orderly
manner.
Nevertheless, Anthony has long held the belief
that there is still money to be made at Davenham, and prospective
CEO Jennison, who has been looking for a business to grow since
leaving nonprime consumer and motor lender Moneyway, is
enthusiastic about the challenge.
Speaking exclusively to Leasing Life,
Jennison commented: “There’s a real opportunity to get it going
again but current management are just focused on collecting in the
old book. David and I believe it would be a real waste for Davenham
to shut down. It has some good people and systems, and had a good
proposition before it made some bad lending decisions.”
A circular released by Davenham to
shareholders in advance of January’s meeting stated that the board
and the group’s bank funders had sought to cooperate with Anthony
on any credible proposals for realisation of value to shareholders.
Nevertheless, it stated that the bank funders did not wish make any
changes to the current Davenham board and that they would support
the current management team.
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