A year after its IPO, the furniture seller Made.com is experiencing significant difficulties. The British e-commerce company announced it was placed in administration with a view to its liquidation and the suspension of its action on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday 1er November, for lack of success in finding new sources of financing.
Eventually, listing on the stock exchange “will be cancelled, any residual value will be distributed to shareholders and the company will be liquidated”the company said in a statement.
Struggling with inflation and the global disruption of supply chains, the company warned in September that it was assessing “different strategic options”. At the end of October, it announced the interruption of its negotiations with potential buyers and a halt to new orders at a subsidiary.
The stock has lost 99% of its value since the start of the year
However, the company has received expressions of interest from potential buyers, “interested in almost all or only part of the company, its assets and its brands”, she said on Tuesday. But if a sale were to take place, without “no certainty”it would now be done by administrators, she added.
The board of directors had said in September that it had also considered a capital increase, but judged that “Current conditions do not allow[ai]fail to raise enough equity from investors”.
Known for its comfortable sofas in colorful velvet, the company has suffered a reversal of fortune since its IPO in June 2021. Its market capitalization was then worth nearly 775 million pounds (900 million euros). Its stock has lost more than 99% of its value since the start of the year.
The British company has exported to several European countries such as France, Switzerland, Belgium and even Germany.
