Prestbury looks for a takeover deal

FINANCIAL services business Prestbury Holdings has confirmed the transfer of 80 advisors to Midlands-based rival Personal Touch Financial Services.

The move, expected to be cleared by the Financial Services Authority today, leaves AIM-listed Prestbury without a trading business and just one member of staff. Ten employees will be made redundant.

The transfer, first mooted two weeks ago, was arranged on the advice of insolvency specialists, according to the company.

In a statement Prestbury, which trades as Prestbury Financial, said it had taken the step to preserve shareholder value. The directors are now hoping to revive the business’s fortunes by conducting a reverse takeover.

At the start of September shares in the Alderley Edge-based business were suspended for a second time this year after it admitted it could not release its half-year results on time.

They were suspended in June after the company failed to release its full-year results on time. It eventually released the figures in July showing a net loss of £1m for the 14 months to the end of December 2007.

The company is run by chief executive Lee Birkett and his mother Lynne, the firm’s finance director. In August shareholders failed in their bid to remove the duo in an EGM vote. Lee Birkett is now set to relinquish his position on October 20 to become a non-executive director.

The company’s shares remain suspended.