Peter Knag joins the company in the middle of a rough real estate market, and when iBuying specifically appears to have lost some of its buzz.
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Against the backdrop of a punishing housing market and investor skepticism that has sent its share price to new lows, Offerpad announced this week that it has appointed a new chief financial officer.
Peter Knag
Peter Knag comes to Offerpad after holding leadership roles at a variety of media and communications companies. According to his LinkedIn page, he spent 18 years at AT&T, eventually rising to the position of vice president of merger planning.
After AT&T acquired Time Warner in 2018, Knag remained with the company and held roles including executive vice president and chief financial officer for subsidiary Turner Broadcasting System — the parent of CNN, TNT and other brands — and executive vice president of finance at Warner Media.
Knag left in 2022 and went on to serve as the chief financial officer for RNN Media, which operates broadcast TV stations across the U.S. Earlier in his career, Knag also worked in investment banking and did stints at Lehman Brothers and First Albany Corporation, according to a statement from Offerpad.
In the statement, Knag expressed excitement about joining Offerpad at a “dynamic time for the company.”
“I look forward to working with the talented team to continue to grow and diversify Offerpad’s platform offerings and drive efficiency, scale and profitability in the business,” he said.
Knag is the third person to serve as CFO at Offerpad in less than a year. Beginning in 2019, Michael Burnett held the position, and he stayed on until resigning last summer. Jawad Ahsan then took over last July, but, according to his LinkedIn page, he left in December.
The executive turnover has happened at the same time that Offerpad has faced a period of turmoil. Like most real estate companies, the market slowdown that began in 2022 dinged Offerpad, making it harder to profitably buy and flip homes. The situation also took some of the luster off the broader concept of iBuying, which used to be one of the buzziest topics at real estate industry gatherings.
After Offerpad went public in 2021, the company additionally saw its share price gradually trend downward. By last year, shares were regularly fetching less than $1, leading the company to execute a 1-for-15 reverse stock split to avoid being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
Despite those efforts, however, shares have continued trending down and, last week, hit a new post-split low of $4.50. Today, the company has a market cap of $134.82 million, a significant fall from the $2.7 billion valuation it had when it went public.
All the news isn’t necessarily bad. During its last earnings report, for instance, Offerpad revealed that it managed to trim losses and increase the number of homes it acquired.
Brian Bair
But the takeaway is that Knag joins the company at a critical time and that he has his work cut out for him.
Offerpad, however, indicated Knag is up to the task. In its statement, CEO Brian Bair said he is “thrilled” to have Knag at the company, adding that “his extensive background in finance and corporate development, along with his proven leadership in business operations and complex transactions makes him an invaluable addition to our executive team.”
“We look forward,” Bair added, “to his contributions as we continue to drive growth and profitability at Offerpad.”
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