The troubled agency’s senior team have decided to gift the business and its assets to Strike, assuming its shareholders agree at a later vote.

The final chapter in the sorry tale of Purplebricks has come to light after the company today announced it is selling the firm’s assets and business to Strike for £1, pending approval by its shareholders.

Any cash remaining in the business – some £5.5 million – is to be retained to pay off any debts and liabilities excluded from the deal and reimburse its shareholders.

Purplebricks will continue as an estate agency but under the ownership of Strike.

This announcement marks the end of a process started in February during which Purplebricks senior team have sought to either raise more funding or find a buyer for the estate agency.

It also marks one of the UK’s biggest corporate falls from grace – Purplebricks was valued at one stage in the billions of pounds – and has now been sold for less than a KitKat.

Today’s announcement reveals that CEO Helena Marston is to resign from the company as will the rest of the board except the CFO Dominique Highfield and it will exit the stock market and cancel all its shares.

“The Directors, taking into account the comprehensive exploration of sale options via the Formal Sale Process, the current trading performance of the Company, the liquidity position of the Company, the near term expiry of a key funding partner relationship and the potential challenges in securing, in the short term, the future ownership of the Group, have unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Company to proceed with Proposed Sale,” the announcement says.

“Accordingly, the Directors intend to unanimously recommend Shareholders to vote in favour of the Resolutions to be proposed at the General Meeting as they have irrevocably undertaken to do in respect of their own beneficial holdings and the shareholdings in which they are interested amounting, in aggregate, to 19,402,865 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 6.3% of the Company’s issued share capital.”

Sir Charles Dunstone, who is major backer of Strike, says:  “We remain committed to the online estate agency model, which offers customers a much better experience at a far lower cost.

“This is a positive outcome for anyone looking to sell their home and save money doing so. Purplebricks has dramatically changed the industry by driving down the cost of estate agency and we aim to combine its significant brand recognition with an even more disruptive business model.

“In bringing together the two brands, we will supercharge Strike’s mission to democratise house selling by empowering customers to have more control over a process that has barely changed for 200 years.

“At Freston Ventures we are focused on building household brands that are trusted by consumers across the UK. We believe there is a better way to sell your house and through this deal, we are developing the market-leading brand to deliver it.” 

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