Investment group selling shares to help fund expansion

Chiswick based estate agent Foxtons has announced plans to list on the London Stock Exchange.

They will be selling new shares valued at £55 million to pay down their debt and enable expansion of their operations in other areas of London.

Further shares to be sold will come mainly from funds controlled by BC Partners, a private equity company which acquired the shares from the firm's founder Jonathan Hunt in 2007 for £370 million, and from employees of the company. After the sale the firm was hit by a slump in the property market but in recent years revenues have recovered and Foxtons reported revenues of £62.6 million in the first half of 2013.

44.3% of the Group's revenue in 2012 was generated from Foxtons' sales business and 52.6% from its lettings business.

Foxtons said that transaction levels in London were still about 55% below the levels seen from 2000 to 2006.

In their statement to the Exchange they claim strong local market share positions in London, with Foxtons' top ten branches (by sales market share) achieving an average sales market share in their territories of 13.4% in 2012.

The new funds would allow a branch expansion programme of 5-10 new offices a year to add to their existing 40 branches in London, and a further two in Surrey.

August 27, 2013