News Article Published:
Monday, 30 July 2007
Category:
Financial Services
After Moneysupermarket.com faced a disappointing start to its floatation on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), the company has suffered some embarrassment, as internal squabbling was blamed for poor results.
The company will have to work hard to improve its profile after it ended the first day on the LSE valued at £783 million after high hopes of a £1 billion valuation.
Moneysupermarket website, which offers customers advice on financial products and price comparisons, was finally floated on the day of the biggest one-day percentage drop in four years after months of bickering between the founders.
Simon Nixon and Duncan Cameron argued for several months over a flotation date, and finally came to terms last month with Mr Cameron selling back 90 per cent of his stake in the business for £162 million.
Mr Nixon has earned £102 million from the flotation where he had expected to receive £200 million. He remained sanguine, commenting: "I suppose we have been a little bit unlucky but the really positive thing for us is that we have been able to get our flotation going at all. It shows a lot of interest from investors."
But it is not the first time that Moneysupermarket.com has received bad press about its founders.
As early as in 2001, reports were flying around that Mr Nixon and Mr Cameron had fallen out.
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