Agent Controlled Dutch Market Leader funda Looking For New Minority Shareholder

The agent association which owns a majority share in the Dutch market-leading real estate portal funda has announced that it has taken a new step towards allowing its members to sell shares in the portal.

Non-binding bids are now being accepted for a minority shareholding in funda after a recent strategic review by NVM (the Dutch Cooperative Association of Brokers and Valuers) which was preceded by years of shareholder bickering.

A brief NVM statement released on Wednesday did not reveal any potential suitors for funda nor a timeline for any shareholder sales.

Founded in 2001, funda is the clear market leader in the Dutch real estate market with a healthy traffic and brand lead over its competitors.

NVM members were given the opportunity to buy shares in funda at the portal's foundation and today are said to control around 10% of the portal's shares with NVM itself controlling almost all of the remaining shares. Many members have long been keen to cash in on their shares but have been prevented from doing so by NVM's reluctance to allow individual members to sell their shares to outsiders.

The tension behind the scenes at funda was revealed in 2021 when the portal's CEO, Quintin Schevernels resigned citing "discussions at the shareholder level" which he said were "slow[ing] down the execution of our strategy."

NVM's move to invite private investment in a dominant portal is similar to the rumoured move being considered by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) who are reportedly considering allowing outside investment in leading Canadian portal Realtor.ca