Private equity group BC Partners is reported to be cashing in on London’s housing boom by selling a 7.8% stake in Foxtons.

It would raise some £70m for the firm, which acquired Foxtons in 2007 on what for some years looked like a disastrous purchase from founder Jon Hunt.

The £375m acquisition was made just before the housing market crashed, wiping 33% off the agent’s revenues the following year.

BC Partners, which was said to have referred to Foxtons as the “F” word, subsequently lost control of Foxtons, which had to be rescued by a restructuring of debt involving two banks.

However, BC Partners managed to regain control in 2012, and last autumn the firm floated on the London stock exchange. BC Partners had owned 75% of the firm until the float, a stake which was down to 22.3% by the end of the 2013 financial year.

According to Reuters, a 7.8% stake would raise £17m on a value of 310p per share.

Shares in Foxtons ended up slightly yesterday at 324p.