Countrywide's Initial Public Offering Encourages Optimism over the UK Housing Market

Britain's largest estate agency has announced its plans to sell shares to the public after six years of being privately owned. The company aims to raise £200 million in funds from the flotation.

London, United Kingdom (prHWY.com) March 21, 2013 - Countrywide, Britain's biggest property agency, has announced its intent to return to the stock market after six years of being a privately owned company. The shares are to be sold at the highest possible price in an initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday, March 20, 2013. This decision has further fuelled the optimism that the UK housing market is finally gaining momentum.

According to Reuter's sources, the company is currently poised to offer its shares at the upper end of the price range. This means that stocks will be priced from £330 to £350 each. This is a considerable increase from the initial rate of £260 to £350.

Countrywide Holdings is the UK's largest high street estate agent by revenue. Its business mainly revolves around the sale and lease of houses and flats all over the country. The company was listed in the stock market between 1986 and 2007, before it was taken into private ownership by the American firm Apollo. Two years later, Oaktree took control of Countrywide through a debt for equity swap. At present, the company is believed to be valued at approximately £450 million. With this flotation, Countrywide aims to raise £200 million to repay its outstanding debt and fund business expansion.

The company's private equity owners Apollo Global, Alchemy, and Oaktree Capital have no current plans to reduce their shares. They have agreed not to sell their stocks for six months after the stock market listing is completed.

Countrywide's flotation comes in the midst of signs that the housing market is on the rise. Rightmove, a UK market analyst, has reported that the average house price in Britain had increased to £239,710. This is 1.7% more than last month's rating, and it is a peak that the market has not seen since the spring of 2008.

"The fact Countrywide seems to be doing well with their IPO suggests that they can persuade hard-bitten institutional investors that there is general trend behind those [house-price] figures." said Douglas McNeill, the investment director at Charles Stanley.

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