Icap operations chief decides not to join Tullett Prebon

Veteran Icap operations director Ken Pigaga has had second thoughts about moving to Tullett Prebon along with his voice broking colleagues as part of the impending acquisition.

Pigaga, after a decade at Icap following stints at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, was the most senior manager due to transfer but has decided not to take up the position of director and chief operating officer of the newly formed group TP Icap, the companies revealed on Monday.

Tullett, which once it has bought Icap's hybrid voice broking and information business (IGBB) will end up with Icap's shareholders owning 56% of the enlarged business, said it was still confident that the deal is "on track" to close this calendar year.

The company stated that it will make an announcement regarding the operations director role in due course.

Annual results in May revealed earlier the voice broking and other businesses that are soon to be acquired produced 8% lower revenue and 16% lower profits in the year to March.

"We have an excellent management team in place for TP ICAP, drawn from the ranks of both companies, which will bring a wealth of diverse experience, technical depth and outstanding leadership qualities to the new group," said Tullett chief executive John Phizackerley.

Broker Shore Capital observed: "The phrasing in the statement, that Mr Pigaga has made the decision not to transfer, is disappointing in that he would have provided a degree of continuity during what will likely be an extensive integration process."

Shares in Tullett were down almost 1% to 357.2p by 0840 BST on Monday morning.