Shares in estate agency Countrywide dropped today on the news that an expected sale of its Lambert Smith Hampton business to Great Global Holdings owner John Bengt Moeller is unlikely to take place.
The company’s shares closed down more than 10% at 230.4p, their lowest since a 50-for-1 share consolidation lifted its stock price late last year.
With the closure of the £38m deal already having been delayed for weeks, Countrywide said today: “The company continues to engage with Mr Moeller and wishes to effect completion as soon as possible. However, given the significant delay caused by him, the company has notified Mr Moeller that it will now also explore alternative options for the sale of LSH, and is considering its legal options to pursue Mr Moeller for damages and costs from continuing delay in completion.”
The company added that it is in discussions with another possible purchaser that “actively expressed an interest” in the LSH business during the delayed process.
Moeller told EG he hoped the delay would be “solved soon”, adding: “We at Great Global [Holdings] have used our best endeavours to comply with the revised deadlines decided by Countrywide. The delay is a result of several regulative compliance challenges, which is outside our control. Great Global [Holdings] wish to complete the LSH acquisition subject to no further peripety.”
The FTSE 100 closed down 83 points at 5,876, on a day that started with an unexpected interest rate cut from the Bank of England and ended with investors digging into the details of chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a multi-billion-pound stimulus package in his Budget. Both were an attempt to limit the economic shock of the spreading coronavirus, which has spooked markets around the world in recent weeks.
The FTSE 250 was down 207 points at 17,339.
Among the top FTSE risers was intu Properties, up by 14%, or 0.7p, ahead of long-awaited full-year results tomorrow.
To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette
