Family feud: London estate agent Winkworth sues chair over plot with wife to oust son from board
London estate agent Winkworth has initiated High Court proceedings against its chair, Simon Agace, for an alleged breach of contract after he and his wife attempted to oust the company’s board, including his son, Morning Wire can reveal.
The AIM-listed company, which is one of the UK’s oldest estate agents and specialises in high-end properties in the City in boroughs such as Pimlico, Westminster, and Notting Hill, said Agace allegedly breached “certain provisions” of his contract dating back to 5 November 2009.
Agace also allegedly breached duties related to his role as a director under the Companies Act, the law which regulates British companies and their directors.
Simon Agace was Winkworth’s chief executive for 30 years until he stepped down in 2004 and passed the reins to his son, current chief executive Dominic Agace. The pair have been running the property firm together since it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2009.
At the company’s annual meeting in May, Agace’s wife, Irene Ho Kim Lee, who is Dominic’s stepmother, used her 34 per cent voting power to attempt to oust all the directors from the board other than her husband, including his son Dominic, Morning Wire understands.
Since May, Agace also demanded to overhaul the board and replace its members with those of his choosing and said he will hold a shareholder meeting to oust board members if his demands are not met.
The estate agent sought legal advice following this and has also applied for an interim injunction to block Agace from sharing any confidential company information and using his family’s voting power to overhaul Winkworth’s leadership team.
Winkworth said it is “unable to comment further” while the legal proceedings are underway.
Housing market woes
Winkworth, which was founded in 1835 and is headquartered in the City, saw its shares fall by one per cent on Friday from 185.00p to 177.50p.
Real estate companies across the sector are going bust at the fastest rate in a decade, according to Morning Wire analysis in July, with as many as 762 firms becoming insolvent since the start of the year.
The UK housing market has also been suffering this year as the Iran war and higher interest rates have shrunk demand and caused a slowdown in sales.