The deal will see £1.4bn of new shares sold at 10p each, which will go some way to repaying the company’s £200m debt burden.
Investors in Countrywide approved a £140m rescue package at the estate agency’s annual meeting yesterday.
The deal will see £1.4bn of new shares sold at 10p each, which will go some way to repaying the company’s £200m debt burden.
The package is required for the group to survive after a refinancing attempt was turned down by bond investors earlier this year.
Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Countrywide is back from the brink thanks to a shareholder bailout, though the estate agent is still fighting an uphill battle on a rather slippery slope.”
Around £115m of the money will be used to pay down debt, £14m for general corporate purposes and to support working capital, while £11m will pay fees and expenses arising from the equity issue.
