Made.com begins talks with suitors over sale as cash injection of £70m needed
Made has said it has started talking to a number of potential suitors about a sale of the furniture retailer.
After previously declaring the beleaguered online retailer would be looking to sell itself to shore up funding to clinch its survival, Made.com said it had now entered into non-disclosure agreements with various parties.
The potential bidders will be given extra information about the retailer and invited to table non-binding indicative proposals in the middle of October.
A “select number” of parties are expected to be invited to participate in a second phase which would “conclude as soon as practicable thereafter.”
The board will inform suitors that under current management plans, a stand-alone public company is anticipated to need aggregate funding of around £45-70m over the next 18 months.
Made.com stressed there was no certainty that an offer will be made, nor as to what the terms of any offer may be.
Shares soared 15 per cent in early trading on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning.
The firm only made its debut on the London Stock Exchange in January, with a valuation of £775m. Its share price has taken a hammering to the tune of 97 per cent over the past year to date.
Last week, the firm shared widening losses after consumers slowdown on buying homeware items amid the cost of living crunch.
The company posted a loss before tax of £35.3m for the six months to 30 June, versus £10.1m a year prior.
“The first half of the year was a challenging time for the global economy and particularly for the retail sector,” according to chief executive officer, Nicola Thompson.
Made has previously said it would start cutting costs by laying off staff within the next few weeks. It was not entirely clear how many will be impacted by the cull.