Interactive Investor prepares for float as Wilson takes chair

Apr 14, 2021

A former chief executive of Travelport is to become chairman of Interactive Investor (II), the retail funds platform which is preparing for a bumper London stock market listing.

Sky News has learnt that Gordon Wilson, who led Travelport’s New York initial public offering (IPO) in 2014 and more recently has been a non-executive director of William Hill, will take the helm of II subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority.

His appointment was announced internally on Wednesday morning, according to insiders.

Mr Wilson’s recruitment as successor to Hugo Van Vredenburch offers the clearest sign to date of II’s putative plans to float in the next 18 months.

Insiders pointed out that investment bankers had yet to be hired for an IPO, and that a formal decision to proceed with one had not yet been taken.

The company has been transformed in recent years under the majority ownership of JC Flowers, the private equity firm.

It is now the second-largest funds supermarket behind Hargreaves Lansdown, and its chief executive, Richard Wilson, has spoken repeatedly about the public markets being a natural long-term home for II.

The flotation of AJ Bell, another rival, has also underlined investor appetite for the sector, which has been buoyed by a surge in trading during the coronavirus pandemic.

II now has roughly £50bn of assets under administration and 400,000 customers, having built the business through a string of successfully integrated acquisitions.

An II spokesman declined to comment ahead of an external announcement about Mr Wilson’s appointment.

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