Industry Financial Services Operating income Headquarters London, United Kingdom Founder Lloyd Dorfman Number of employees 6,500 | Products Foreign exchange Website www.travelex.co.uk Revenue 721.5 million GBP (2014) Founded 1976 | |
Type Private limited company Key people Lloyd Dorfman (Founder) CEO Anthony Wagerman (26 Feb 2015–) Owners B. R. Shetty, Lloyd Dorfman Profiles | ||
Travelex Group is a foreign exchange company 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. It is the world's largest foreign exchange bureau and is a major donor and sponsor of the Royal National Theatre.
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In 2007 it proposed a 'space currency' called the Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination, as part of a viral marketing campaign.
Lloyd dorfman travelex and building a global business from one shop
History
Travelex was founded by Dorfman, opening its first branch in central London in 1976.
On 8 November 2000 it bought Thomas Cook's worldwide foreign exchange business for £440m, which significantly expanded its international operations.
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. 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". Later that year it sold its card programme management division to MasterCard for £290 million to help reduce its debts.
On 5 July 2011 Travelex sold its Global Business Payments division to Western Union for £606 million.
By 2012, Travelex had a total workforce in excess of 6,500. By March 2014, Travelex had operations in 27 countries and more than 1,500 stores.
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. This sale was completed in January 2015