Buoyant Foxtons in talks to go public The owners of Foxtons have held talks with bankers about an initial public offering of the hard-charging estate agency that became a symbol of the UK property boom before stumbling when house sales dried up. BC Partners, the buyout fund manager that bought Foxtons in 2007 and lost control of the business three years later, has discussed a possible flotation with banks, people with knowledge of the situation said. The dialogue comes at a time of resurgent appetite for real estate companies, underlined by Countrywide's successful listing on Wednesday. The private equity company has not made any decision and has not started the process of appointing a bank, the people warned. BC Partners declined to comment. The business has bounced back, it would be silly of them not to consider it. Like any investors, they would happily sell it and move on," said a person familiar with the situation, adding: "But given the sensitivity of the investment, they will want it to be handled properly." BC Partners was criticised for its ill-timed £360m buyout of Foxtons and admitted that it had made a "mistake," even though its £50m equity investment was about 1 per cent of its €5.8bn fund. The publicity was so negative that partners at the private equity firm referred to the estate agency as the "F word." Lenders took control of Foxtons through a debt restructuring in 2010. But BC injected an additional £50m of equity to remain its largest minority shareholder and bought back some of its debt at a discount. It regained control of the company after purchasing the bank stakes last year. Overall, BC is expecting to make nearly double its equity investment in Foxtons, which no longer has any debt, a person close to the matter said. Foxtons has ridden the recovery in the London housing market during the past three years, doubling its pre-tax profits in 2010 to £35.4m - a figure that held steady in 2011, according to Companies House filings. The company, with 39 branches in London and three more set to open in the next fortnight, also carried out a £2m sale-and-leaseback deal on its fleet of 890 Mini Coopers during 2011. One banker familiar with the real estate market said: "Now would be the right time [for an IPO]. It should be at the forefront of their thinking. The positive sentiment around a potential listing reflects the fact that Countrywide, the UK's largest estate agency by branches and a rival of Foxtons, received widespread interest for its return to the stock market and priced at the top end of expectations. On their first day of trading on Wednesday, Countrywide shares rose 13.4 per cent, valuing the company at £848.5m. The London housing market has decoupled from the rest of the UK during the financial crisis, supported by surging demand from overseas buyers and a strong local economy. The divergence is reflected by the fact that the £552bn of housing stock in London's 10 most expensive boroughs is now worth as much as the property markets of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland combined. The rising prices and steady transaction volumes have proved a lure for estate agents and developers. Foxtons was unavailable to comment.