Purplebricks.com to float on stockmarket.
In a news item late yesterday Sky News announced that it has learnt that Purplebricks, the online estate agent has informed shareholders in recent days that it wants to float on the stock market as soon as the first week of December.
Backed by the City’s leading fund manager Neil Woodford, this would give the company a valuation of close to £250m, not bad when only just over a year ago it was worth just £7m, in addition to Mr Woodford, the company’s backers include Errol Damelin, the former boss of payday lender Wonga, and Paul Pindar, the ex-chief executive of Capita, the outsourcer.
Purplebricks allows home-owners to sell their properties for a flat fee of £599, compared to an average sum paid to estate agents of more than £5,000 based on the typical commission of 1.8% of a property’s value. It also offers a service to landlords, offering a tenant-finding service for a one-off fee.