Travelex
| File:Travelex logo.png | |
| Private limited company | |
| Industry | Financial Services |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Headquarters | London, England |
|
Key people
|
Lloyd Dorfman (Founder) |
| Products | Foreign exchange |
| Revenue | £721.5 million (2014) |
| £85.9 million (2014) | |
| Owner | Apax Partners, B. R. Shetty and Lloyd Dorfman |
|
Number of employees
|
6500+ (2012) |
| Website | www |
Travelex Group is a foreign exchange company[1] founded by Lloyd Dorfman and headquartered in London. Its main businesses are international payments, bureaux de change and issuing prepaid credit cards for use by travellers.[2] It is the world's largest foreign exchange bureau and is a major donor and sponsor of the Royal National Theatre.[3]
In 2007 it proposed a 'space currency' called the Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination, as part of a viral marketing campaign.[4]
History
Travelex was founded by Dorfman, opening its first branch in central London in 1976.[2]
On 8 November 2000 it bought Thomas Cook's worldwide foreign exchange business for £440m, which significantly expanded its international operations.[5]
In February 2005, buy-out firm Apax Partners bought a majority stake in the company, however Dorfman retained 30% and continued to run the business.[6] Ian Meakins was CEO from 2006-2009, before becoming CEO of Wolseley plc.
In early 2010 Travelex disclosed significant losses due to the interest payments on its large debts. It had pulled back from a stock market flotation the year before and said that it was now "considering a range of potential financing structures".[7] Later that year it sold its card programme management division to MasterCard for £290 million to help reduce its debts.[8][9]
On 5 July 2011 Travelex sold its Global Business Payments division to Western Union for £606 million.[10]
By 2012, Travelex had a total workforce in excess of 6,500.[citation needed] By March 2014, Travelex had operations in 27 countries and more than 1,500 stores.[11]
In 2014, Apax Partners sold its majority stake of 51% to UAE based Indian businessman Bavaguthu Shetty valuing the company at approx £1bn. Shetty also owns UAE Exchange a UAE-based money transfer business that operates in 32 countries. Shetty who also owns London-listed NMC Health was supported in acquisition by Abu Dhabi-based investment vehicle Centurion.[12][13] This sale was completed in January 2015[14]
References
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- ↑ Travelex Group c. n. 04090247 - https://www.ukcompanylist.co.uk/c/04090247-travelex-group-limited/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Travelex Group information on official website, accessed 5 November 2012.
- ↑ Brown, Mark "National Theatre's Cottesloe venue to be renamed after £10m donor" The Guardian 28 October 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
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- ↑ http://www.travelex-corporate.com/EN/About_Us/
