Beleaguered fund manager Neil Woodford, one of the early champions of Purplebricks, has slashed his stake in the company from 28.9 per cent to 23.9 per cent.
The reduction in shares has bagged Woodford about £16m in his quest to gather money to help bail out his other ailing investments; meanwhile, this means that the biggest stake in Purplebricks is now held by the digital media arm of German publishing firm Axel Springer.
The Springer empire now owns 26.6 per cent of the hybrid agency.
Axel Springer - which owns titles as diverse as Rolling Stone and Insider Business - this week purchased over 43 million shares in Purplebricks; this was roughly the amount sold by the agency’s founders Michael and Kenny Bruce, and Michael’s wife Isobel.
There’s a further twist in the saga this morning: the Daily Mail is reporting that it has been told that Axel Springer is “open to opportunities” to buy more even shares in Purplebricks.
If this came to pass it could mean the agency would be taken over by Axel Springer and be subject to that company’s long-term investment decisions.
The Mail believes this could involve taking it off the London Stock Exchange’s junior AIM market, where it has had a volatile existence since floating in late 2015.
Yesterday, Purplebricks’ share price closed at 109.4p, some 3.8 per cent up on the opening price; however, that is still 23 per cent down on the past month and 74 per cent down on the figure this time in 2017.
Neil Woodford suspended dealing in his Woodford Equity Income Fund on Monday; this is not the fund that invests in Purplebricks, but in a bid to shore up this fund Woodford is believed to be attempting to raise money from elsewhere, hence the selling of some shares in Purplebricks yesterday.
Woodford yesterday evening had another serious blow with news that the wealth management group St James's Place dropped him as a manager of its huge £3.5 billion fund.
This will heighten pressure on Woodford to divest himself of investments producing low or negative returns. Only this week a BBC correspondent cited Purplebricks as a “dog” - slang for a poor investment choice.
All eyes will be on Purplebricks today to see if there...
Troubled star fund manager Neil Woodford has sold another slice of...
Talks are reported to have been held between Purplebricks leading shareholder,...
A representative of major Purplebricks shareholder Axel Springer has stood down...
The predictions game can be tricky. Sometimes you just don’t know...
Leading UK property auctioneer Bond Wolfe has broken through the £100...
Uncertainty triggered by the new Labour Government and taxation concerns that...
In today's rapidly evolving property market, the focus on reducing transaction...
.png)
An exciting new collaboration between TVPN, EstateApps and Paul Long is...
By Mike Bilboe, Face For Business Buying or selling a home can...
LSL Estate Agency Franchising is home to one of the UK’s...
.jpg){kind=logo}
B-hive Block Management Partners Celebrates Major Milestone With Over 100 Businesses...
.jpg)
Tell us a little bit about National Home Move. We are a...
If you’re thinking about becoming an Estate Agency franchise or converting...
Estate agents and lettings agents have a legal obligation to protect...
You don’t have to simply accept things as they are when...
From the uptick in house sales in January to a house price...
Happy birthday to us….and all members of the The ValPal Network! We...
With a combined value surpassing £7.4 trillion, the UK’s 29 million...
%20-%20IMAGE%20Client%20Accounting%20%E2%80%93%20what%20are%20your%20options.jpg)
The benefits for letting agents to outsource their client accounting is...
When almost all agents and developers use the tried and tested formula...
I think we can all agree that the National Trading Standards...
.png)
As domestic battery storage systems become increasingly prevalent in UK homes,...
.png)
A team from The ValPal Network joined industry Facebook ads expert...
.png)
In this interview, Riccardo Dawson, Chief Operating Officer at Alto and...
%20(002).png)
In today's fast-paced and ever-evolving property industry, it’s essential that forward-thinking...
A client account is essential to your lettings business, but the...
As electric vehicles increasingly populate our roads and the necessity for...
As estate agents, it is important to make sure that your...
Estate agency has changed. No longer is it required to sit in...
Changes to consumer behaviour usually arrive in waves. Most of the...
At iamproperty we are excited to share the announcement of our...
It’s no secret – 2023 is a difficult year for the...
In an exclusive interview with Estate Agent Today, Simon Coaker, Sales &...
2023 has been coined as ‘the year of AI adoption’, and...
%20(002).jpg)
There are a few common questions that arise when the issue...
As a signage company we know we have a serious responsibility...
The Government’s mini budget on September 23 was anything but ‘mini’...
Agent websites have become more crucial than ever in attracting new...
.png)
Who are you and what does it say on...
Who are you and what does it say on...
Who are you and what does it say on...
Join the conversation
Jump to latest comment and add your reply
With a media frenzy around Neil Woodford - apparently even Radio 2 Jeremy Vine is commenting on NW's fall from grace - the only question is - will a new investor jump in? Will Axel Springer buy more shares, or will the 'online disruptor' become another dot com dream and be allowed to rest in peace.
As stated previously with a traditional agent, 160K of seed capital utilised to start and fund a cold start estate agency branch will in 36 months be paid back in full plus a profit of 5%, in 48 months profit will be 20% plus. Given the tens of millions that 'online disruptors' have squandered, with 5 large online concerns closing or failing in less than a year, I could have used all the lost money and have built a traditional 1,000 branch agency in the UK, and would actually be paying a dividend to shareholders.
Until people realise that tech is moving forward in every industry, and just to say we have an online model that is better than a traditional model - does not cut the mustard, especially when online estate agency is actually more expensive to run than traditional estate agency.
After nearly 5 years, PB has never made a profit, still charges all vendors an upfront fee, and still only completes on 50% of the properties it lists, and the need for more funds to prop it up as it burns through millions on advertising to keep the brand name alive is one of the reasons that it has failed. If the public thought PB was a good thing - it would not need to rely on running adverts telling everyone how brilliant it is because it does not charge commission.
Accepting what you suggest why is it then that Countrywide has failed.?
Haven't they followed your suggested model!?
SLASHED HIS STAKE? A drop of 5% in the total value or 18% of his total holding. Slashed? Really? Why sensationalise everything, ETA? You're getting very tabloid-esque.
Countrywide failed because less than 4 years ago - the top directors of CW most of whom had never run an estate agency - decided to get fresh blood into the company - then installed a person with zero industry knowledge who was chosen as they happened to be in the right place at the right time in their previous job. Then all the talented team who opposed the new CEO were fired/resigned - same thing - leaving CW to lurch from disaster to disaster. If CW had followed my model, high fees, high levels of service, high rewards for top performing staff - then they would not have failed.
In a way that is the beauty of new start company's they do the right thing intuitively, they are so driven and focused on surviving that they push forward and adapt, most large company's have a life cycle of 10 years, they then adapt and morph into something new or die, it is the first 36 months that establishes the brand.
Please login to comment