Nonprime lender Nicholas Financial, which recently scrapped plans to be acquired by New York-based Prospect Capital Corp., will end its hunt for a suitor altogether.
Nicholas’s board voted yesterday to discontinue exploration of possible strategic alternatives, deciding instead that shareholders of the Clearwater, Fla.-based company will best be served by focusing operations as a standalone entity, according to SEC filings.
Nicholas’s stock price has been hovering around $14 per share, down from a 52-week high of $17.20. Meanwhile, the company’s 2014 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, tentatively scheduled for July 30, will be held Aug. 12.
Yesterday, too, the board named Ralph Finkerbrink the company’s president, chief executive, and chairman, and picked Senior Vice President of Branch Operations Kevin Bates as a director to fill the vacancy created by the resignation last month of company Founder Peter Vosotas.
Finkerbrink’s base salary in his new position is $325,000.
