Announcement #2UPDATE 2-Envoy Capital to restructure ops; CEO, board resign
(Recasts; adds stake sale and other details)
* Says to transfer all Monaco assets to Canada
* Sees one time restructuring cost of about C$5.6 mln
* New CEO Robert Pollock picks up 15 pct stake
* Outgoing director sells 19 pct stake
Feb 10 (Reuters) - Envoy Capital Group Inc , a merchant banking and financial services company, said it would restructure operations to cut costs and that its CEO and board had resigned.
As part of the restructuring, which will save costs by about 60 percent, the Toronto-based company will move its Monaco unit's assets back to Canada and will operate its merchant banking business from its Toronto offices.
Envoy, which also offers brand strategy services, said the reduction in costs was expected to better its position as it continues its merchant banking strategy.
Envoy also expects a one-time charge of about C$5.6 million due to the restructuring, it said in a statement.
The outgoing directors have been replaced by Tim Sorensen, David Guebert, John Campbell and Robert Pollock, who was also named the new chief executive.
Geoffrey Genovese, one of the outgoing directors and president, sold about 1.5 million shares, or 19 percent of the outstanding shares, of the company.
With a close to 20 percent stake in the company, Genovese was the largest shareholder in Envoy as of last November, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The new CEO, Pollock, bought 1.2 million shares, about 15 percent in Envoy, from Genovese. Pollock is also the CEO of merchant banking company, Primary Corp , and Primary Capital Inc, an exempt market dealer.
Shares of Envoy Capital closed at C$1.21 on Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Aftab Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair) (aftab.ahmed@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 58 00 ; Reuters Messaging: aftab.ahmed.reuters.com@reuters.net))