Online estate agent Purplebricks (PURP:AIM) time on the stock market looks to be coming to an end as suitor Strike agrees a nominal £1 deal.

Joining the stock market to some fanfare in 2015, at one time Purplebricks had grand ambitions of overseas expansion and reached a valuation of more than £1 billion. However, these hopes were soon dashed. Even after retrenching to its core UK homeland the company has been tripped up by Covid and, more recently, a faltering property market.

Having put itself up for sale earlier in 2023, rival online agent Strike was in discussions with Purplebricks and on 17 May announced a deal to acquire it for £1.

Purplebricks’ situation looked bleak and it was running out of cash. Instructions, a good indicator of future revenue and profit, fell by nearly half in the last three months of 2022, dropping from 10,964 a year earlier to just 5,672.

The company had revealed one of its payment providers was withholding funds because of its precarious position which was also likely to dissuade prospective clients from engaging Purplebricks’ services. Once the sale has gone through, Purplebricks expects to be left with £2 million which will be returned to shareholders. [TS]

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