If you are a shareholder in Purplebricks make sure your vote counts

Various publications have been reporting recently on plans by an activist investor, Lecram Holdings, to oust the present Chair of Purplebricks, Paul Pindar, after several years of value-destroying performance. A General Meeting to vote on the removal of the Chair and to vote onto the board a new director, Harry Hill (founder of Rightmove and ex CEO of Countrywide) will take place on the 19th December. The vote could be quite close and individual investors hold a significant proportion of the shares (around 30%) so they will have a key influence on the outcome if they vote in large enough numbers. ShareSoc is always keen to promote shareholder democracy so, if you’re a shareholder, please move quickly if you wish to have your say on the matter – proxy votes need to be submitted by 15th December. Your broker may already have invited you to vote – some even have online voting systems such as Interactive Investor. But, if you haven’t already heard from your broker/platform you will need to ask them to vote on your behalf or to provide you with proxy forms to do it yourself or ask them for a “Letter of Representation” if you wish to vote in person at the GM. Brokers can often take a few days to process your votes so please bear that in mind. If you’re not sure about the whole voting process you can find some general background in our Investor Academy here – https://www.sharesoc.org/investor-academy/advanced-topics/nominee-accounts/

You can read more about the arguments of both parties using the following links:-

Lecram Holdings’ Website (containing the details of their proposals)
https://www.lecramholdings.com/purplebricks-egm

Purplebricks Website (details of the GM)
https://www.purplebricksplc.com/investors/shareholder-information/shareholder-meetings/

You can read more about the background to the case via the following media publications :-

The Times (subscription required)
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/move-to-oust-purplebricks-chairman-pindar-mzpmw2j0t

Proactive Investors (free to access)
https://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/999337/purplebricks-activist-lecram-calls-for-chair-to-go-after-years-of-poor-business-decisions-999337.html

The Telegraph (subscription required)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/11/23/purplebricks-chair-wins-shareholder-support-ahead-crucial-vote/

This is a ShareSoc News Item written by director Mike Dennis.

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