Next buys collapsed UK furniture retailer Made.com for $3.9 million

Bloomberg

Next Plc has struck a deal with the insolvency administrators of Made.com Group Plc to buy
the collapsed online furniture retailer for $3.9 million.
Made.com confirmed it’s entered an insolvency process and has appointed PwC as administrator after struggling for survival for months amid falling demand and surging inflation.
Next, which sells clothing and homewares, confirmed that it has agreed to buy Made.com’s brand, domain names and intellectual property, as Bloomberg News earlier reported.
The price tag demonstrates how far Made.com has fallen after listing last year with a valuation of £775 million. It’s one of the fastest corporate collapses in UK history as soaring freight costs and supply chain difficulties have weighed on the company, compounded by weaker consumer sentiment especially for big-ticket items like sofas.
The deal doesn’t cover the company’s staff, and more than 300 workers are being made redundant. About 4,500 customer orders in the UK and elsewhere in Europe are being delivered though many will be cancelled.
Nicola Thompson, Made.com Chief Executive Officer, said she “would like to sincerely apologise to everyone — customers, employees, supplier partners, shareholders and all other stakeholders — impacted as a result of the business going into administration.”
The retailer was a winner during the pandemic as people stuck at home bought furniture online, and it was hailed as a milliennial favourite. The move back to shopping in stores
contributed to its demise.
Brent Hoberman, the creator of travel website Lastminute.com, co-founded Made.com in 2010 in an attempt to offer stylish furniture at cheaper prices by selling directly to consumers and eliminating traditional retailers.