Activist investor makes bold move to oust Purplebricks boss

Rebel Purplebricks shareholder Adam Smith has made a move to try and replace chairman Paul Pindar.

Smith has called a general meeting of all shareholders to decide whether Pindar should be ousted.

Rightmove founder and former Countrywide chairman Harry Hill (main pic) is Smith’s candidate to take over at the Purplebricks helm.

Only this week Purplebricks’ CEO Helena Marston, who was appointed by Pindar, declared she is the right person to turn the ailing agency around.

In a letter to shareholders, Smith describes Purplebricks’ performance as “disastrous”, and says: “A track record of multiple failures and poor governance demands that a change of chairman is required NOW in order to create value for all shareholders.

As an investor with a 5% share in the agency through his company Lecram Holdings, Smith has the right to call a general meeting.

Smith says he has asked Pindar to stand down many times, but despite the company’s share price falling to a new low of 11p, the chairman has refused.

Many changes of CEO and CFO during Pindar’s reign have also prompted Smith to call for change.

Last month it was announced CFO Steve Long was leaving after less than year in post to be replaced by Dominique Highfield.

‘Disruptive’

Purplebricks issued a statement describing the move by Smith to call a general meeting “disruptive”.

“The board reaffirms its support for Paul Pindar as a director of the company and chairman of the board, and believes that Paul has the continued support of a number of major shareholders.

“This includes Axel Springer SE, a 26.5% shareholder in the company, which has confirmed it remains supportive of Paul and intends to vote against the proposed resolution for his removal as a director of the company,” the statement reads.

Purplebricks reported a drop of 23% in revenues down to £70 million, and a profit fall of 27% to 42.1 million in August. The struggling agency also suffered an EBITDA loss of £8.8 million.