Former Durex Chief Takes Reins At Foxtons

The former head of the company which produces Durex condoms is to become chairman of Foxtons, the estate agency chain targeting a £400m-plus stock market flotation.

Sky News understands that Garry Watts, who led SSL International until its takeover by Reckitt Benckiser (Xetra: A0M1W6 - news) in 2009, is poised to join the board of Foxtons as it shapes up for a public listing potentially as early as next month.

People close to BC Partners, Foxtons’ current owner, said Mr Watts’ appointment was on the verge of being tied up alongside a number of other non-executive directors.

Since leaving SSL, Mr Watts has taken on board roles at companies including BTG (Other OTC: BTGGF - news) , the healthcare group, and Spire (Other OTC: SPIR - news) , the private hospitals operator.

News of Mr Watts’ impending appointment comes on the day after Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, expressed reservations about the Government's giant scheme to inject fresh momentum into the housing market.

Mr Cable said the Help to Buy initiative was potentially useful but risked creating another housing bubble.

For the time being, the scheme is helping to bolster market sentiment among housebuilders and estate agents alike.

Foxtons rode the property boom under its founder, Jon Hunt, before selling to BC for £375m in 2007 - a deal which catapulted him into the ranks of Britain's super-rich.

The subsequent financial crisis and recession-hit UK economy, however, led to a sharp downturn in the property market, and left estate agents such as Foxtons unable to service their debts.

The company was taken over by its lenders before BC bought them out in 2012, a move which people close to the buyout firm said underlined its faith in Foxtons' business model.

A flotation of Foxtons could take place as soon as next month, shortly after rival Countrywide took advantage of buoyant equity markets to go public, although the final timing has yet to be determined.

Foxtons' profits have surged during the last two years, buoyed by the booming London housing market, which has increasingly diverged from much of the rest of the country.

A BC Partners spokesman declined to comment on Mr Watts' appointment.