Activist investor Catalist has pushed for change after steep share price drops over past 7 years...
Continue reading on ft.comFoxtons is being urged to open branches across the country to take advantage of Covid-induced changes in commuting and living.
Investor Catalist Partners, which has taken a 2.3 per cent stake in the estate agent, is pushing for changes that it believes could propel Foxtons to a £1 billion valuation. It wants Foxtons to open a branch in Hong Kong to attract Far Eastern buyers.
Continue reading on thetimes.co.ukRobin Paterson’s Catalist says that estate agency Foxtons is “significant undervalued relative to the platform’s potential”.
Continue reading on primeresi.comThe veteran estate agent who led criticism of Countrywide’s former management is turning his glare on Foxtons. The London estate agency has been the subject of mounting criticism for its ‘fat cat’ culture.
Continue reading on estateagenttoday.co.ukFoxtons is struggling to regain lost market share and halt the underperformance versus its peer group due to the firm’s current management’s strategy, according to Catalist Partners, which has a 2% stake in the company.
Continue reading on propertyindustryeye.comRobin Paterson's 'activist investor' vehicle wants the estate agency's management to change direction and go for growth.
City ‘activist investment firm’ Catalist Partners has taken a 2% stake in Foxtons in a bid to persuade the estate agency to change its business strategy amid criticism that it is under-performing.
The move comes a week after it criticised CEO Nic Budden’s proposed £1 million bonus as ill-timed given the £4 million of public funds received by the agency to help it survive Covid.
Continue reading on thenegotiator.co.ukAn activist investor has warned Foxtons that it needs to return to its “glory days” as an entrepreneurial FTSE 250 company and go-to London estate agency for the wealthy if it wants to dole out bumper bonuses.
Catalist Partners, which agitated for an overhaul of the Countrywide estate agency group before its takeover this year, has joined critics of Foxtons’ decision to award Nic Budden, its chief executive, a £1 million bonus for riding a housing market boom and benefiting from almost £7 million of government Covid support, including £4.4 million from the furlough scheme.
In a letter sent to Budden last Monday, Robin Paterson, the estate agency veteran who co-founded Catalist, said that benchmarking compensation to a FTSE 250 company was reasonable only if it was “matched” by financial performance.
Foxtons should use social media to promote its “rockstar” brokers, open branches outside London to benefit from an exodus of people to the country and increase market share in sales and lettings of new developments, he said.
He added that pay should be linked to revenue growth and earnings targets in areas that Catalist, which owns 2 per cent of Foxtons shares, thinks would boost earnings, including sales and lettings of super-prime properties.
Continue reading on thetimes.co.ukCatalist Partners has warned Foxtons to return to its "glory days" if it wants to hand out big bonuses. The activist investor has joined critics of Foxtons’ decision to award boss Nic Budden a £1m bonus for riding a housing market boom and benefiting from £7m of furlough support.
In a letter sent to Budden last Monday, Robin Paterson, the estate agency veteran who co-founded Catalist, said that benchmarking compensation to a FTSE 250 company was reasonable only if it was “matched” by financial performance. He added that Foxtons should use social media to promote its “rockstar” brokers, open branches.
Continue reading on egi.co.ukCountrywide shareholders have overwhelmingly backed the offer by Connells to buy the company.
At a special virtual AGM today 99.58 per cent of Countrywide shareholders approved the deal - just 0.42 per cent opposed.
Under the terms of the acquisition, each Countrywide shareholder will be entitled to receive 395 pence in cash for each share.
Continue reading on estateagenttoday.co.ukCatalist Partners seeks to unlock value in challenged, content driven companies, simplifying complexity and overcoming inertia.
Opaque financial reporting, a flawed business plan poorly executed and a failure to urgently repay debt, all contributed to an exceptional decline in the CWD share price over the past 3 years.
Our analysis, set out in an open letter of the 19th August, identified significant value not reflected in CWDs then share price.
This improved offer from Connells is c.3x the price at which the Board of Countrywide previously recommend selling control at, a transaction which Catalist strongly opposed, and also brings the specific industry expertise Catalist thinks necessary to restore the core sales and lettings business, along with a track record of successful integration.
Catalist Partners is therefore supporting this increased offer.
Connells Ltd. has agreed to buy struggling U.K. realtor Countrywide Plc after prevailing in a bidding war with a private equity firm.
Connells, a privately owned property firm, will pay 395 pence per share in a cash deal that values Countrywide at about 134 million pounds ($183 million), according to a company statement on Thursday. That’s a premium of about 172% over the share price before the offer period began in November. The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year.
Bid of 395 pence per share has been accepted by Countrywide - BloombergConnells has reached an agreement to buy rival UK estate agency Countrywide, drawing a line under a long-running battle for control of the company.
Connells has agreed to pay 395 pence per share, valuing Countrywide at £134m - Financial TimesCatalist Partners notes Countrywide’s announcement this morning. As one of the Company’s largest shareholders, Catalist strongly opposes this unnecessary, ill-judged and dilutive transaction which, while clearly a very attractive deal for Alchemy, is destructive for shareholders and only serves to fund the continuation of a flawed 'back to basics' business plan.
Catlist rejects Countrywide investment proposal - Estate Agent TodayProof, at last, that Peter Long has learnt something about estate agency: “Today’s news marks an exciting new chapter in the evolution of Countrywide.” Well, that’s one way of putting it. What will the company’s executive chairman come up with next? Describe a cupboard as a double room?
Get inside the house and here’s what his new chapter really looks like: a £90 million cash injection underwritten by Alchemy, plus tender offer, that’ll hand the private equity firm up to 67.7 per cent of the group. And at a discount, to boot. In short, a deal to dilute the hell out of existing shareholder. Little wonder that 10.5 per cent investor Catalist Partners is fuming.
Continue reading on thetimes.co.ukIf there's one thing that the property industry doesn't lack, it is optimism. With the foundations wobbling at Countrywide, the estate agent has panicked, agreeing to a £90m rescue cash injection from shareholder Alchemy and £75m of new borrowings that it believes will miraculously transform its fortunes. It could certainly do with some help.
Pre-tax losses in the first six months of the year have widened to £49m from £41m; turnover is down by a quarter to £172m; one-off costs have leapt to £52m; and cash is dwindling at a rapid rate. But this isn't simply a Covid-inspired downturn. The company has been struggling for years. And it seems like a strange moment to fold when the Chancellor's stamp duty holiday, along with an exodus to the 'burbs, has triggered a mini-housing boom since the half-year ended.
Countrywide says it is "in urgent need of recapitalisation", but a £50m debt repayment is being cancelled out by £75m of new loans. Incoming chairman Carl Leaver is focused firmly on the positives. "A very bright future" awaits if the deal goes through, he says. Yet, the price of this salvage act is a single shareholder calling the shots with somewhere between 50pc and 68pc of the shares and dilution for the rest. Catalist, holder of a 10.5pc stake, has already objected to what it calls an "ill-judged transaction". It surely won't be alone.
The TelegraphEstate agent chain Countrywide (LON: CWD) has secured a £90m lifeline from private equity firm Alchemy in an “urgent” bid to reduce debt, however a significant shareholder is planning to oppose the deal.
The firm, which owns Bairstow Eves and Hamptons International, said it is at a “critical inflection point” and is in “urgent need of recapitalisation to reduce its net debt and lessen its exposure to its lenders”.
Shares dived more than 11 per cent as Countrywide also said it is burdened by excessive debt, and requires a resilient balance sheet due to the weak macroeconomic outlook. The firm will also receive a £70m loan from its lenders following the capital raising, it said.
However, investor Catalist Partners, which owns a 10.5 per cent stake in the firm, said it is planning to vote against the proposals, claiming the deal would be “destructive for shareholders”.
Continue reading on cityam.comkBritain's biggest estate agency is at the centre of a furious row as shareholders clash over its future.
Countrywide said private equity firm Alchemy Partners was planning to hand it a £90million lifeline.
The deal would give Alchemy a stake of between 50.1 per cent and 67.7 per cent and see Countrywide executive chairman Peter Long replaced.
But activist investment firm Catalist Partners, which has a 10.5 per cent stake in Countrywide, branded the plan – which will see existing shareholders' stakes drastically watered down – 'ill-judged' and 'unnecessary'.
Continue reading on dailymail.co.ukWhen one statement says a company is committed to selling a business it put up for sale almost a year ago and another – released just seconds apart – outlines how there are plans to grow the business, it is no wonder that shareholders have been left somewhat bewildered and angry. Lambert Smith Hampton owner Countrywide has been trying to offload the commercial agency since 27 December 2019. There has been one aborted attempt and discussions with another potential buyer are understood to be ongoing.
Continue reading on egi.co.uk