Blow for Rich Ricci as Finncap bid scrapped

Shares in Finncap plunged 16 percent after the broker’s rival, Panmure Gordon, pulled out of its bid to buy it.

In October it emerged that Panmure was sniffing around, but Finncap has confirmed the two could not agree on a deal.

Finncap told investors, “Given the strengths of each company as independent entities, each board has concluded that it is not possible to find mutually acceptable terms or structure.”

That’s a setback for Panmure boss Rich Ricci and financier Bob Diamond, as a union would create economies of scale. They worked together at Barclays – Diamond as CEO – before ignominiously departing.

Diamond left in 2012, days after Barclays was fined for manipulating Libor rates. A horse racing fanatic, Ricci fell out of favor by pocketing a £18 million equity payout as the UK recovered from the recession.

Closing deals, listings and even companies’ attempts to raise money from their investors, the bread and butter of a broker, have put the brakes on making consolidation attractive.