The Purplebricks share price has seen a spectacular collapse this year, closing yesterday at just 0.71p, following the news that the troubled online estate agency, which was once valued at £1.3bn, has agreed a sale of the business to rival Strike for the token sum of just £1.
Purplebricks Group, which put itself up for sale in February after a series of profit warnings, said it had entered a conditional agreement to transfer its business to Strike that would include the assumption of its liabilities.
The struggling online estate agency said the proposed sale would be expected to deliver a small return to shareholders though, in practice, they would be all but wiped out.
Shares, which have plunged in recent times to value the company at around £2m. They had stood at 525p a share at their 2017 peak.
The company, founded by brothers Michael and Kenny Bruce in 2012, endured a turbulent 2022 as it struggled with a new operating model, had at least three major management reshuffles and one of its top 10 shareholders – Lecram Holdings – called for the removal of Paul Pindar as chairman.
Strike is best known as an agency that claims to be able to sell a property for free. But the firm’s agreement to acquire Purplebricks puts all of its more than 750 staff put at risk of redundancy. The company has already made a substantial number of job cuts this year.
Strike to reassess business model as it plans substantial job cuts
Comments (6)
why would anyone feel sympathy for this, just think of how much PB has cost you over the years?
The PB forum is alive and kicking !
Shame Purplebricks isnt.
Bye. Won’t be missed by many. They knew what they were doing from day one, they knew what was happening all along and now its in the death throws. To sell at £1, is this to get out before an impending, possibly catastrophic liability arises for them, that has yet to surface and is being kept quiet?
I wonder how long it will take before the shareholders that lost millions start revisiting what they have been told throughout their journey from the initial IPO to the latest trading updates by those running the business, particularly as some of those have been involved in previous business failures.
Company Valued at £1.3 billion – them sells for £1. I would not want to be the valuer on this one
All these companies being valued at these ridiculous prices, surely the FCA needs to look at how these companies are being valued as the formula is misleading investors.