60% of Payzone shareholders call for EGM to remove two executives

UP TO 60% of shareholders in Payzone — the Anglo-Irish electronics payment solutions firm — have called for the firm’s board of directors to hold an extraordinary general meeting to approve the removal of the chief executive and chief financial officer, John Nagle and John Williamson.

The company made this claim via a stock exchange announcement, yesterday.

Its shareholders are expected to be contacted within the next 21 days and the EGM is expected to take place early next month. The Payzone board has also received notice from controllers of 10% of the company’s share capital — basically Mr Nagle, himself — calling for an EGM for the sole purpose of removing chairman Bob Thian from the board of directors.

A standoff between Mr Nagle/Mr Williamson and the Payzone board, led by Mr Thian, has been under way for the past three weeks, after the board issued a statement saying the pair were no longer with the company. However, they were since granted a court injunction preventing their removal. Trading in Payzone shares on London’s AIM exchange has been suspended since the issue came to prominence. It is understood there has been mounting tension between the parties for some time.

Payzone was formed last year as a result of the merger between Irish payment solutions firm Alphyra and the British-based cash machine operator Cardpoint.

On Friday, Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson were granted a further injunction from the High Court in Dublin preventing Payzone from treating them as having been dismissed. A full hearing in the coming months — a date has yet to be determined — will be heard in the High Court.

Mr Nagle said on Friday, following the injunction: “Our motivation over the past two weeks was to defend our reputations via an independent assessment of the rights and wrongs of what happened and to ensure Payzone is well positioned in the future.”