Starling founder Anne Boden cuts stake in £4bn fintech
The founder of UK fintech Starling has slashed her stake in the digital bank during a secondary share sale, Morning Wire can reveal.
Anne Boden, who launched Starling in 2014 after stints at Allied Irish Banks and Lloyds, cut her holdings in the digital bank to near 2.7 per cent from a previous 4.3 per cent, Morning Wire analysis of new filings show.
It comes after Starling launched a secondary share sale last year in a bid to enable its current investors to sell down stakes and open up new opportunities.
In the sale, the bank was targeting a valuation of between £3.5bn and £4bn, according to the Financial Times.
The filings also show Guernsey-based Chrysalis Investments, where Starling takes up 53 per cent of the group’s portfolio, retained a stake of over ten per cent. The investment trust has played a key role in Starling’s funding rounds since 2019, leading a £30m round that year and invested £20m in 2023.
Starling’s top shareholder maintains grip
Starling’s biggest shareholder billionaire Harald McPike has maintained a stake of over 40 per cent through his investment vehicle JTC Holdings.
Morning Wire revealed earlier this week McPike had gone cold on previous ambitions for the UK fintech to list in London after growing frustrations around City regulation.
Over the last 12 months, Starling’s top team has warmed to a US listing in a major change of tune from previous sentiment.
Finance boss Declan Ferguson said the fintech had not formed a “concrete view” on which market the neobank would be most suited for and said any decision was “in flux”. This was a stark departure from former interim chief John Mountain declaring in 2024, the fintech was “very committed” to a London listing, describing the City as a “natural home”.
Mountain succeeded Boden in May 2023, with reports later stating the latter’s exit followed a clash with investors over fund manager Jupiter’s decision to sell its stake in a below-valuation price the year prior.
Boden’s decision to step down came after she decided her position as a chief executive was being unduly influenced by her concerns as a shareholder, the Financial Times reported at the time.
When asked about the reduced stake, Boden declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Starling said: “During the last year, one of our shareholders agreed to sell some of their shares to another of our shareholders in a private, bilateral transaction. This was done with the company’s full knowledge and support.”