Back in 2010, Hank Uberoi, a former co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs technology division, took a look at the "blue sky" opportunity offered by Earthport (EOP). The company started with grand ambitions around the time of the dot.com bubble, but had suffered since with a succession of ineffective management teams. Mr Uberoi's interest centred on two attractive aspects: a scalable technology platform; and network connectivity that would take a very long time for any potential competitor to replicate.
- Cash pile
- Fast expanding market
- Impressive customer list
- Huge operational gearing
- Loss-making
- No dividend
The company's core business model centres on a white label technology platform that processes low value cross-border payments. And this direct-to-bank approach allows clients, which range from banks to e-commerce businesses, to transfer money to anywhere in the world. It does this in the local currency at a price point that no bank can match and at a significantly lower cost to the consumer.