Foxtons boss Michael Brown makes £52m in oversubscribed IPO

Foxtons’ stock market debut last week made its chief executive Michael Brown £52.2m rich by selling 22.7 million shares at the issue price of £2.30.

The sale in the oversubscribed IPO has reduced Brown’s stake from 17.6% to 8.8%

According to the offer prospectus, Brown cannot sell any more shares for the next year as part of a lock-up agreement.

BC Partners, which bought the firm for £360m in 2007, reduced its stake from 75% to 28.3%. Should an overallotment option be exercised, the company’s stake will reduce to 22.3%

BC Partners and other selling shareholders will get £335m from the IPO. A further £55m raised will be used to pay off company debts.

On Friday, shares soared 22% within half an hour after the stock was floated at £2.30 a share.

Chief executive Michael Brown said: “We are delighted that our initial public offering has been successfully received and there has been strong interest from investors.

“We welcome our new shareholders to Foxtons and we are looking forward to the next stage in the development of the business as a listed company.”