Sancus sells Gibraltar arm for £10,000 to co-founder
Sancus Lending has completed the sale of its Gibraltar business for £10,000 to the alternative finance group’s co-founder John Davey.
Davey founded Sancus with former chief executive Andrew Whelan in 2013. He previously held the role of executive director of Sancus BMS and Sancus IoM, before leaving the company in February 2021.
After reviewing its operations in Gibraltar during 2022, Sancus said it could not “identify sufficient quality lending opportunities to merit continued efforts in the region and as a result the goodwill (£8.64m) was consequently written down to nil”.
It said the sale will result in savings of around £200,000 and will allow Sancus to focus on its core markets of the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands. The proceeds of the sale will be used for working capital purposes.
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“The sale is in line with the group’s ongoing structured change programme,” Sancus said. “The executive team, supported by the board, continue to focus on returning the company to profitability. This includes ongoing measures to simplify the business, improve efficiency and optimise the use of its resources.”
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In January, the company announced it was closing two of its five offices, retaining London, Dublin and Jersey, with the closure of its office in Guernsey and the decision to cease new business activities in Gibraltar.
Following the decision to move the group finance function from Guernsey to Jersey, Emma Stubbs, the group’s chief financial officer, is to step down from the board and leave Sancus at the end of March.
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