Purplebricks Group - Is this the craziest IPO valuation of all?
The proposed IPO of online estate agency Purplebricks Group looks set to test the valuation sanity of investors with a suggested pre new money valuation of up to £250m. This looks totally bonkers to us for a business that only started a year or so ago. Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ comes to mind!
Purplebricks was only launched in April 2014 and has since secured the support of a number of high-profile and well-funded investors and admirers, including Neil Woodford, one of the UK’s most successful fund managers who bought a 30% in the online agency last summer. Having gained a reputation in the world of blue chip tobacco and pharmaceuticals (amongst other stocks) Mr Woodford seems happy to pay top whack for ‘Blue Sky’ offerings; I’m sure he has his reasons! Purplebricks has a so called “highly disruptive business model” (how many times have we heard that!), which charges consumers a low fixed…