UK-based e-commerce company Made.com, which sells furniture and related items in seven European markets, is facing bankruptcy after failing to find a buyer and confirming plans to appoint administrators.
In the year Founded in 2010, Made.com has emerged as a treasure in the UK start-up sphere as it works with select partners to facilitate the entire furniture design and manufacturing process and is mostly an online platform (although it has been filled with physical stores over the years). The company has raised around $137 million from some of Europe’s leading investors.
Today’s news comes a few years after the London-headquartered company went public on the London Stock Exchange, a move that sent its shares down 7 percent on the first day of trading. Made.com initially valued the stock at 200 pence, valuing it at around £775 million ($894 million), but its fortunes never recovered from its June 2021 launch date, as the stock continued to fall each month. An all-time low of 34 cents.
Made.com failure
Today’s announcement probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. In September, Made.com said it was considering job cuts and sales after the economic downturn and disruptions to its supply chain. Indeed, the company’s losses widened in the first half of this year, rising from £10.1 million to £35.3 million in H1 2021.
Made.com had previously reported that it was in active discussions with potential buyers, but things took a turn for the worse when the company stopped taking new orders and said it would not accept any refunds or return requests. As the clock approaches to find a buyer at the end of October, Made.com has now confirmed that none of the interested parties have been able to “meet the necessary timeline” to close the deal, and discussions have now been terminated.
With PricewaterhouseCoopers lined up as administrator, Made.com has also now temporarily suspended trading of its common shares, although this will be a permanent move once management plans are rubber-stamped.
