Purplebricks snaps up Canadian counterpart in £30m deal

Online estate agent Purplebricks Group plc has announced an eight-figure deal to acquire Canadian property services business DuProprio/ComFree (DPCF).

The Solihull-headquartered company will pay around £29.3m for DPCF, which recorded c.£26.2m revenues and an EBITDA of around £2.4m in 2017.

DPCF holds a 20.2% share of the real estate market in the province of Québec, but recently the firm has launched into new territories, securing a 2% slice of the Ontario market and 2.3% in Western Canada, which includes Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

For Purplebricks, the deal represents an opportunity to quickly grow its market share in Canada while enhancing the customer experience there through its established digital model and technology.

The company will target an additional investment of up to £15m in DPCF’s expansion across Canada during the next two years, funded using the retained profits generated by the province of Québec and supplemented by Purplebricks’ cash reserves.

The existing management team at DPCF will continue to lead the business, including Marco Dodier (CEO), Jean Bruno Lessard (CFO), Lukas Lhotsky (COO) and Marie-Christine Blain (CLO).

Michael Bruce, global CEO at Purplebricks, commented: “DPCF developed a strong presence in delivering a flat fee, cost-effective, professional real estate service to the people of Canada, challenging the conventional agency market.

“Their model of bringing a range of service packages and support, with access to expertise from coaches to legal professionals, is proving highly attractive to the Canadian public, and has aspects in common with the Purplebricks’ model and ethos in the UK, Australia and the US.”

He continued: “We are excited about working with DPCF’s exceptionally strong management team to leverage the significant opportunities for growth in the Canadian market.

“Expanding the geographical footprint across Canada and building the company’s buy-side offering provides the potential to transform the size of the DPCF business and consolidate its market leadership.”

Mr Bruce added: “This acquisition follows the £125m strategic investment by Axel Springer in Purplebricks for the aim of accelerating global growth. Through applying the appropriate funding and support we believe we can deliver real value enhancement for our shareholders.”