Atom Bank, the app-based lender, has kicked off a seek for a brand new chair as preparations for a long-awaited public itemizing of its shares collect tempo.
Sky News has learnt that Atom Bank has employed Spencer Stuart, the headhunting agency, to establish a successor to Bridget Rosewell, who has chaired it since 2018.
City sources stated the hunt for Ms Rosewell’s substitute fashioned a part of a plan to reshape its board forward of an preliminary public providing (IPO).
Mark Mullen, Atom Bank’s chief govt, has spoken for years of a want to drift the corporate.
A 2024 IPO is now seen as doubtless.
Atom Bank raised one other £30m in fairness from main shareholders together with BBVA, the Spanish financial institution, in November.
It is now understood to be approaching traders about elevating a minimum of one other £100m in fairness, with one insider suggesting it was prone to be nearer to £150m.
Mr Mullen stated in November that Atom had surpassed £4.5bn in retail deposits “having made waves with the pricing of our fixed and instant savers, opening up a void between banks such as Atom that pay a fair return on savings and those that are simply unresponsive to the market”.
Read extra enterprise information:
Job cuts loom at John Lewis
TikTok anticipated to be banned from UK authorities telephones
The appointment of a brand new chair will come quickly after Atom additionally changed its finance chief, with Andrew Marshall changing David McCarthy.
Atom has employed bankers to work on its pre-IPO fundraising and subsequent itemizing.
Last 12 months, talks a couple of £700m merger involving a automobile arrange by Donald Trump’s former commerce secretary fell aside.
Atom had been in talks with a particular function acquisition firm (SPAC) arrange by Wilbur Ross, the billionaire Wall Street financier.
Established in 2014, Atom Bank has raised roughly £500m in fairness from traders together with BBVA, Toscafund and the now-dissolved Woodford Investment Management.
In 2021, it attracted headlines by changing into one of many first substantial employers to change to a four-day week.
It stated the transfer, which included a discount in working hours from 37 to 34 with no affect on salaries, was designed to help staff’ psychological and bodily wellbeing, in addition to to spice up productiveness.
The Durham-based financial institution didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Source: information.sky.com”
