More Purplebricks Furore — Brushes Off 'Publicity Stunt' Legal Case while Lecram Holdings Withdraws its Bid for the Business

Purplebricks has dismissed Contractors 4 Justice (C4J) latest attempts to force it to hand over up to £9M in unpaid benefits to self-employed agents as a 'publicity stunt' designed to distract stakeholders—while Lecram Holdings has withdrawn its bid for the online agent before Friday's (probable) sale to Strike for £1.

Purplebricks revealed that it had already won a legal case against C4J (before C4J's actions last week) and branded the move as a publicity stunt designed to derail the online agent's imminent sale to Strike. The online agent reasserted that there will be no settlement negotiations.

The company came out swinging with a spokesperson saying:

“Contrary to the C4J sales pitch to potential litigants on their YouTube interview there is no ‘free money’, this is no ‘slam dunk’ and there was never a ‘legal precedent’.

“The previous case referred to in the video was later dropped and clearly had no sway on the judgement in this case.”

The judgement was firm in its defence of Purplebricks, with the judge dismissing the case and reaffirming that the prosecutor (Mr Williams) "assumed their own risks and insured against those risks. They were in business on their own account."

Meanwhile, Lecram Holdings Ltd, a 5% shareholder in Purplebricks, has withdrawn its bid to buy the company and does not intend to enter a second bid.

Lecram had offered to buy shareholders out for 0.5p per share.

It now leaves rival agent Strike as the only remaining bidder for the company. A general meeting tomorrow (2 June 2023) will recommend that shareholders accept the proposed bid for £1 by Strike.

Lecram has been an outspoken critic of Purplebricks chairman Paul Pindar and has called for him to resign his position on multiple occasions, with industry veteran Harry Hill Lecram's preferred candidate to lead Purplebricks out of the mire.