Purplebricks breaks into Canada; acquires fixed-fee listings network

Purplebricks has acquired another fixed-fee agency for £29.3m - it’s in Canada and marks another new territory for the hybrid agency.

The acquisition is of DuProprio/ComFree which reported around 39,000 property listings in 2017, and has what Purplebricks this morning described as “a profitable 20.2 per cent market share of the real estate market in the province of Québec, and has more recently launched into new territories, securing a 2.0 per cent market share in Ontario and 2.3 per cent in Western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta).”

Purplebricks says it believes that DPCF presents “attractive opportunities to quickly grow market share in Canada, enhance customers' experience through its market leading model and technology, start capitalising on an extensive buy-side revenue opportunity in Canada.”

Purplebricks is to invest another £15m in DPCF's expansion across Canada over the next two years funded from the retained profits generated by the province of Québec and supplemented from the cash reserves of Purplebricks itself.

"DPCF developed a strong presence in delivering a flat fee, cost-effective, professional real estate service to the people of Canada, challenging the conventional agency market. Their model of bringing a range of service packages and support, with access to expertise from coaches to legal professionals, is proving highly attractive to the Canadian public, and has aspects in common with the Purplebricks' model and ethos in the UK, Australia and the US” explains Michael Bruce, global chief executive of Purplebricks.

"We are excited about working with DPCF's exceptionally strong management team to leverage the significant opportunities for growth in the Canadian market. Expanding the geographical footprint across Canada and building the company's buy-side offering provides the potential to transform the size of the DPCF business and consolidate its market leadership” he adds. 

“This acquisition follows the £125m strategic investment by Axel Springer in Purplebricks for the aim of accelerating global growth. Through applying the appropriate funding and support we believe we can deliver real value enhancement for our shareholders."

Purplebricks reports its figures to the London Stock Exchange on Thursday.