Payzone chairman Bob Thian arrived in Dublin at lunchtime yesterday from Britain and made his way to Sandyford to meet management and staff about the decision to remove chief executive John Nagle and finance chief John Williamson.
He is said to have received a frosty reception from the rank- and-file staff. Mr Nagle founded Alphra, an electronic payments group that was merged with British ATM operator Cardpoint last month to form Payzone, and is popular with staff.
With Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson having been dismissed, Tim Murphy, Payzone's Dublin-based chief operating officer, is believed to be taking legal advice about his own position.
It is also understood that a number of the company's lenders have sought meetings with Mr Williamson to discuss this week's events. Payzone has debts of about €300 million and its lenders include AIB, Royal Bank of Scotland and Rabobank. Payzone's share price fell by 5.4 per cent in London yesterday to 48.25 pence.
Mr Thian has a reputation as a heavy-hitting troubleshooter. In 2002, he was appointed chairman of Whatman, a laboratory equipment company in Britain, following a shareholder revolt. Four chief executives have served under him during that time and the company is currently for sale and undergoing a restructuring.
In 2006, he was part of a failed shareholder revolt at Skye-Pharma, a drugs group. That same year he became chairman of Cardpoint following the decision of its founder Mark Mills to step down. It remains to be seen how long he will retain his "executive responsibilities" at Payzone.
