Finablr Jumps as Currency-Exchange Firm Is Said to Weigh Options

(Bloomberg) -- Finablr Plc, the owner of currency-exchange businesses including Travelex Holdings Ltd., jumped the most in three weeks after people familiar with the matter said the company is considering strategic options.

Shares of Finablr rose as much as 10.8% in Friday morning trading, bucking four days of declines. They were up 6% at 9:26 a.m. in London, giving the company a market of 306 million pounds ($397 million). Finablr’s board plans to meet in the next few days to discuss alternatives for the company including bringing in new investors, according to the people.

Another possibility that could be considered is whether to pursue a take-private transaction, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Finablr’s stock has been battered because of its ties to troubled hospital operator NMC Health Plc.

Finablr founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty and other executives are seeking to restore confidence after the company’s shares plunged almost 80% through Thursday. Its market has fallen from a peak of about 1.5 billion pounds in December.

Related: NMC Founder Shetty Loved Challenges, Until They Ate His Company

Deliberations are at an early stage, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction, the people said. Representatives for Finablr and Shetty’s holding company, BRS Ventures, declined to comment.

NMC Connections

Finablr has been hurt by its connections to Abu Dhabi-based NMC, which was also founded by Shetty and has been subject to allegations of accounting and governance shortcomings from short seller Muddy Waters.

BRS Ventures is working with Houlihan Lokey Inc. to explore strategic options for the holding company, including a potential debt restructuring or the sale of some assets, people familiar with the matter said last month. It owns stakes in about 30 companies including NMC and Finablr, whose brands include UAE Exchange, Xpress Money and Remit2India.

NMC Founder Shetty Loved Challenges, Until They Ate His Company

Shetty pledged big chunks of shares outstanding in both Finablr and NMC as collateral for loans that he and his associates have taken out. In both cases, the companies said they aren’t sure who owns how many shares, and have asked Shetty for answers.

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