TLA brings in ex-Spurs boss as finance chief quits

17th Sep 2018 09:21

(Sharecast News) - Sports agent group TLA Worldwide revealed on Monday that its chief financial officer Richard Shamsi had tendered his resignation with immediate effect, two weeks after a profit warning.The AIM-listed sports marketing business said that it had appointed former Tottenham Hotspur boss Ian Gray, a turnaround specialist, to its board to take up the role of executive chairman.TLA's broker Numis quit earlier this month as the company launched a cost review and said it needed to raise $3-5m as it was "likely" to breach its existing banking terms with net debt mushrooming as results for the calendar year are expected to be "significantly below market expectations" due to the failure to close off some events in the pipeline and higher costs at its baseball representation business.It is intended that Gray, who was dropped in as interim CEO at a troubled Spurs from 1990 until the near-bankrupt club was was sold to Alan Sugar in 1991, will join the TLA board "as soon as practicable" and that Keith Sadler, its current interim non-executive chairman, would then revert to his position as senior non-executive director.Gray will lead a strategic review of TLA's operations and financial performance over the coming weeks as the new chairman develops and executes his "new strategic plan" for the group.Sadler expressed his "heartfelt thanks" to Shamsi for his "efforts and professionalism in serving the board", saying he was leaving "for personal reasons" but would continue to act as chief financial officer "for the time being", support Gray in the initial stage of his review.As of 0920 BST, TLA shares had climbed 5% to 10.50p.