Online furniture company Made.com is expected to enter administration on Monday after rescue talks failed. It comes days after the struggling firm indicated it could be forced towards insolvency if a buyer or new funding were not found.
Insolvency experts at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are expected to be formally appointed at a court hearing on Monday morning, the Guardian reports. The newspaper said the Made.com name was expected to be sold straight away, most likely to its high street rival Next.
It comes a week after the company revealed it had failed to secure a rescue deal and was set to appoint administrators. Up to 700 jobs are believed to be at risk.
A post on its website said: "The company is currently exploring all options including an accelerated sale of all of parts of the business or it will go into Administration. At the moment, we are not taking new orders. We are able to deliver some outstanding orders and we will provide customers with information about their orders as quickly as possible.
"We appreciate this has been frustrating for all our customers and we are truly, deeply sorry for this situation. We will do everything we can to achieve the best possible outcome for customers, suppliers and staff."
Two years ago Made floated on the stock market with a £775 million valuation. But on October 25 its shares tumbled 93% to 0.5p per share, bringing its value down below £2 million.
Last month Made.com said it had received a number of takeover proposals. The company has been hit by a downturn in consumer spending as well as supply chain disruption, and previously warned it needed £70 million to secure its future over the next 18 months.
Made’s board said then that the business was considering its current position and it would make a further announcement in due course. It said: “If further funding cannot be raised, or a firm offer for the company is not received before the company’s cash reserves are fully depleted, the board will take the appropriate steps to preserve value for creditors.”
