Countrywide stumbles as private equity backers sell large stakes

14th Aug 2013 14:55

Shares in estate agent Countrywide stumbled after major backers Oaktree and Apollo both sold more than a quarter of their stakes and a director resigned. Two of Countrywide's three main shareholders, Oaktree Capital Management and Apollo Global Management, did not sell any shares as part of the FTSE 250 company's flotation back onto the stock market in March.However, although the original IPO lock-up agreement does not expire until late September, both buyout companies informed the company that they had sold large chunks of their shareholdings to other institutions, pocketing around £210m between them. Oaktree sold 25% of its stake, reducing its holding from 36.88% of the company to 27.59%, while Apollo pared back its by 38%, from 17.53% down to 10.87%. Sanjay Patel, a non-executive director at Countrywide appointed by Apollo, has agreed to step down from the board as a result. But both private equity companies have agreed to not sell any more of their shares for the next 90 days, except in certain exceptional circumstances. Countrywide's third major private equity backer, Alchemy, which currently holds a 6.0% stake, has not sold any shares in this new placing and has agreed to remain bound by the original IPO lock-up arrangements, which expire on September 20th.Shares in Countrywide subsided 6.4% to 559p by 15:05 on Wednesday. OH