The deputy chief executive of Monitise, the mobile payments technology company, cashed in 1.5 million shares only three days before a heavyweight backer cut ties with it and sent its shares into freefall.
Visa, a long-term investor in the British company with a 5.5 per cent stake, issued a statement that it had appointed JP Morgan with a view to selling it. More damaging was the comment that Visa wanted to lessen its dependence on external mobile developers — namely Monitise — once an agreement to use its technology ended in 2016.
Monitise shares were off almost 35 per cent, around £300 million in value, late yesterday. Shares, which began the year at a record high of 80p, collapsed to a two-year low. They closed