He will be replaced by Michael Wilkerson, the chairman of Fairfax Africa Holdings Corp., which owns 49% of the firm, but will stay on at the London-listed firm as a non-executive director, Atlas Mara said in a statement on Wednesday. Diamond wants to step back to "increase his focus on his other executive roles."
The 67-year-old took the post two years ago on a temporary basis as the firm struggled to contain expenses that were engulfing income. In that time, he helped secure financing from Fairfax Africa and increased Atlas Mara's stake in its Nigerian banking unit to 49% from 31%, a cornerstone of its African strategy.
Atlas Mara will seek to eliminate duplication created by past acquisitions that will result in lower costs, the company said. Dubai will for the time being remain as the company's corporate headquarters while it shifts key functions and personnel closer to its operations in Africa.
Dubai exit
The potential acquisition of Fairfax Africa's 35% stake in financial-services firm GroCapital would give Atlas Mara its first presence in South Africa and allow it to accelerate initiatives in digital banking and agricultural finance. The offshore segment of Atlas Mara's markets and treasury business will migrate from Dubai, it said.
Diamond has been looking for ways to revive confidence in Atlas Mara after prospects for African economies dimmed – contributing in part to a decline of more than 80% in its shares since selling stock to the public in December 2013. The securities rose as much as 4.6%, the most since April, and were trading 4.2% up as of 8:49am in London, the first gain in four days.