| From FT: Foxtons, the estate agents, and BC Partners, its private equity owner, are considering appointing NM Rothschild, the investment bank, to review the business amid the credit squeeze and the downturn in the property market.The Foxtons board is scheduled to meet this week to make a decision on the brief, which is expected to include a restructuring of the financing.
BC Partners bought the UK estate agency group in May last year for about £360m ($666m) in a deal 75 per cent funded by debt.The review will come as the number of property transactions – the source of revenue for real estate agents – has fallen sharply amid the weakening market.Savills, whose share price has halved over the past 12 months, is expected to reflect a sharp fall in sales volumes. In a trading update in June, Jeremy Helsby, chief executive of Savills, forecast house prices in London to fall 25 per cent by the end of next year, while the effect of the credit squeeze on property spreads across Europe and into Asia. .... Full Article: Source
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