BC Partners cuts Foxtons stake as private equity groups sell up

Δημοσιεύθηκε: 5 Σεπτεμβρίου 2014 - 13:44

BC Partners has sold half of its remaining 14 per cent stake in London-listed estate agent Foxtons - becoming the latest private equity group to take advantage of booming stock markets and cash in on investments made before the financial crisis.

After placing £47.6 million worth of Foxtons shares on Friday, BC Partners will have reaped more than three times its investment, despite buying the agency on the eve of the London housing crash in 2007.

In selling down its stake, the buyout firm - which manages a €6.5bn European fund - has joined other private equity groups including KKR, Blackstone and Permira in taking advantage of high valuations on global stock markets to realise investments.

Foxtons' share sale followed Permira's €802m disposal, earlier this week, of an 11.2 per cent stake in fashion designer Hugo Boss, dating from more than seven years ago. The transaction marked the third time that the private equity group - which owns clothes chain New Look and Birds Eye Iglo foods - had cut its stake in the business over the past 18 months. Permira still owns about 39 per cent of the German group.

Other recent disposals have included Blackstone's sale, in June, of a $620m stake in Merlin Entertainments - just seven months after listing the British theme park operator - and KKR and Bain Capital selling shares in Dutch semiconductor maker NXP for $1.048bn in May.

Private equity groups, which typically seek to offload holdings and return cash to their investors after three to five years of ownership, have disposed of nearly $9bn-worth of shares in listed European companies so far this year, according to Thomson Reuters. This compares with proceeds of $14bn for the whole of 2013, and $6.7bn in 2012.

The trend has been similar in the US, but started about a year earlier. US secondary share sales led by private equity groups have amounted to $11.6bn this year. This compares with nearly $20bn for the whole of 2013 and $17bn in 2012, according to Thomson Reuters.

BC Partners had floated Foxtons - the UK agent known for its fleets of green Mini Coopers and hard-hitting sales tactics - in September last year. In May, it placed 8 per cent of its shares after the expiration of a "lock-up" period, which had prevented an earlier sale.

Stefano Quadrio Curzio, the BC partner sitting on the Foxtons board, will step down on October 1, the estate agent said in June. Foxtons shares were trading at 231.5p in early afternoon trading in London, down 3.8 per cent. They had listed at 230p a share and rose as high as 298p in February.

Selling down shares after a stock market listing is a common way for private equity groups to cash in their investments. Over the past year, many groups in Europe have favoured this route over selling to trade buyers, or other buyout houses, as equity investors have offered higher valuations for their assets.

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