Quintin Schevernels to Resign as funda CEO Amid Shareholder Tensions

Quintin Schevernels is to step down as CEO of leading Dutch real estate portal company funda after three years in the job.

A company statement released on Monday confirmed the departure and admitted that there is "a great deal of tension and ambiguity between the corporate interests of funda and the various interests of its shareholders", a reason cited by Schevernels himself in comments:

“I am leaving with pain in my heart. I leave behind a strong team and a wonderful company. However, the long-running discussions at the shareholder level slow down the execution of our strategy and prevent us from executing it the way I believe in.”

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. Schevernels has overseen the growth of this dominance since 2018 and a 50% growth in profit up to the start of 2021 according to local media.

Some 90% of the portal company is controlled by the NVM, the largest association of agents and appraisers in the country, with the remaining 10% held by private shareholders, many of whom put in the capital when the portal was founded and are now looking to cash out.

The controversy is said to stem from a disagreement between private shareholders who want to see either a large investor come in and take control of funda or for the company to go public and NVM which wants to maintain the status quo.

There has reportedly been interest from large investment firms over the years with General Atlantic valuing the portal at some €240 a few years ago according to local media site Quotenet. NVM though went on record last summer to say that it does not want funda in the hands of outside investors at the moment.