Green poised to quit Incepta Group
Graham Green, the colourful direct marketing guru who orchestrated the recovery of Incepta, is expected to quit the publicly-listed marketing services group at the end of this month.
The decision to quit, which will surprise industry observers, is believed to have resulted from boardroom friction.
Earlier, Green had let it be known that he wished to broaden the marketing services base of Incepta with an ambitious programme of acquisitions. On April 28, Incepta bought an aggressive 11 per cent stake in Lopex, also a publicly-traded marketing services group (MW May 1). However, talks between the two companies broke down almost immediately and a takeover bid failed to materialise.
Speculation on the reasons for Green’s departure has focused on a deal he struck with Citigate Communications, a leading financial public relations company, then unquoted, on March 3. The deal was in effect a reverse takeover, which saw Citigate’s David Wright installed as chief executive of the merged group and Kevin Steeds as group finance director and company secretary.
Green, formerly chief executive of Incepta, became deputy chief executive of the reorganised company, which tripled in capitalisation.
Green owns about 800,000 shares in Incepta, worth over 160,000. Last week, chairman Bob Morton bought 550,000 shares, worth 107,000.
Preliminary results for the year ending February 28 showed Incepta’s pre-tax profits up 18 per cent at 1.6m (1.4m) on turnover 17 per cent ahead at 16.8m.
