Finablr starts preparing for potential insolvency

Finablr Plc, the embattled owner of foreign-exchange businesses including Travelex Holdings Ltd., said it hired an adviser to prepare for potential insolvency proceedings.

The London-listed firm is working with an unidentified accounting firm on “rapid contingency planning,” according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday. It’s taking the action “with a view to maximizing value in the group,” Finablr said in the filing.

Finablr’s move comes a day after it warned the board couldn’t accurately assess its financial situation and said its chief executive officer was stepping down.

It said on Monday the company would implement “a package of urgent measures” to restore stability and had hired compliance consultancy Kroll to review its debt and related-party transactions.

The company found about $100m in cheques dating from before Finablr’s May initial public offering that were used to benefit third parties, according to Monday’s statement.

A fund owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. has taken a 3.4 per cent stake in Finablr, a spokesman for the sovereign fund said on Tuesday.

The holding was acquired by MIC Capital Partners, which is owned and managed by Mubadala Capital, he said.

Finablr had a market of 77m pounds ($94m) when it was halted from trading this week, down from a peak of 1.5bn pounds in December.

Its stock has been hit after NMC Health Plc, a hospital operator started by Finablr founder Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, was targeted by short seller Muddy Waters and later found evidence of suspected fraud.