Catalist Partners

May 2020 - present

Noticing an opportunity in traditional companies yet to embrace digital disruption, Catalist Partners was founded by Robin and 3 business partners, who seek to unlock value in challenged, content driven companies, simplifying complexity, and overcoming inertia.

Catalist identified the publicly listed company Countrywide (CWD) as having significant potential to expose unrecognised value and accelerate change, by repaying debt in full through disposal of non-core divisions, refocusing on the core business and harnessing technology to monetise data assets and transactional interactions. Between July 2020 and March 2021, Catalist discreetly built a 10.48% stake and effected an activist shareholder campaign by engaging with major shareholders, blocking management’s attempts sell to a Private Equity fund at a discount, removing the Executive Chairman and installing an interim CEO, thereby unlocking a takeover by the company’s largest rival at a significant premium, achieving a 4.9x ROI for many of Catalist’s investors.

In April 2021 Catalist Partners bought a 3% holding in Foxtons PLC, and have over the last 12 months agitated for change with other shareholders, from which a new Chairman & CEO have been appointed.