|  Updated: 

TP Icap under pressure to sell off high-margin Parameta data division

By:

Add as a preferred source on Google
RationalFX, founded and owned by Rajesh Agrawal, the former deputy mayor of London for business, was hit by the volatility of the pandemic
RationalFX, founded and owned by Rajesh Agrawal, the former deputy mayor of London for business, was hit by the volatility of the pandemic

FTSE 250 finance firm TP Icap is facing pressure from some of its biggest shareholders to break itself up by selling off its high margin data division.

Several of the firm’s most important institutional investors have begun talks about pressing TP Icap into exploring a formal sale of its Parameta analytics business, Sky News reported.

The investors believe an auction could bring in as much £1.5bn, a sum more than the market capitalization of the entire TP Icap group.

Earlier this year, US activist fund Phase 2 Partners called on TP Icap to consider a plan to sell itself after raising concerns about the world’s biggest interdealer’s “disastrous share price decline”.

It is unclear whether company chairman Richard Berliand and chief executive Nicolas Breteau are prepared to bow to investors’ demands.

TP Icap raised around £315m last year for the $700m (£653m) acquisition of New York fintech firm Liquidnet.

The firm traces its roots back to the formation of foreign exchange broker Tullett & Riley in 1971, which later merged with a raft of London’s largest brokers in the early 2000s.