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
