Court comes to the rescue of leading Payzone pair

THE chief executive and chief financial officer of electronic payments firm Payzone secured a High Court injunction last night preventing their removal from the company.

The injunction, granted by Mr Justice George Bermingham, restrains Payzone as treating chief executive John Nagle and chief financial officer John Williamson as being dismissed from their employment with Payzone.

A second injunction restrains the company from treating Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson as having been removed from their offices as directors of Payzone.

A third injunction seeks to prevent Payzone from making statements that the pair have been removed from their roles.

The move follows a statement from Payzone yesterday morning that the pair had left the company.

It is understood that a board meeting of Payzone took place on Tuesday to vote on the removal of Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson, who were not aware of the meeting nor asked to attend.

In court yesterday, counsel for the executives claimed the meeting was illegal as it was held outside of Ireland, where Payzone is headquartered.

The directors who attended the meeting voted to appoint Payzone’s chairman Bob Thian as the new executive chairman. Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson were informed of the decision on Tuesday night.

It is understood that tensions have been mounting at the company for a number of weeks.

Payzone was created through the merger of Alphyra and British cash machine operator Cardpoint last year. The combined group listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market in December.

The Irish Examiner has learned that in the run-up to the listing, Mr Nagle who is from Cork and founded Alphyra (previously called ITG) in 1989, wanted Cardpoint to issue a trading statement because it was 20% behind its targets after a poor few months of trading.

It is also believed the relations between Mr Nagle, who owns 10% of the company, and Balderton Capital — the private equity backer or Alphyra and the largest shareholder in Payzone with a 40% stake — also deteriorated in the last 18 months.

Payzone said in a statement to the stock market yesterday that Balderton had supported the board’s decision to remove Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson. Mr Thian said: “John Nagle and John Williamson have created a strong platform for growth at Payzone but the company has now reached a stage of its development where a different set of skills is required.”

The matter is due to come before the courts again tomorrow.