Having appointed administrators on 8th November, Made’s brand assets are to be purchased by Next for £3.4m.
On 31st October, Made resolved to file notice of its intention to appoint administrators, before appointing Zelf Hussain, Peter David Dickens and Rachael Maria Wilkinson of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for the task yesterday.
Made.com Design Ltd (MDL) then entered into an agreement with Next Retail, which plans to acquire its brand, domain names and intellectual property. Other assets remaining in the estate will be realised by the administrators in due course, and payments made to creditors in accordance with the statutory priority.
The company’s ordinary shares were suspended from trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market for listed securities on 1st November. The board currently expects that, in due course, the listing of the ordinary shares will be cancelled, any residual value will be distributed to the shareholders and the company will be wound up.
Next’s bid for the brand beat others including one from Made’s founder, Ning Li.
Made’s chair Susanne Given says: “Having run an extensive process to secure the future of the business, we are deeply disappointed that we have reached this point and how it will affect all our stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders.
“We appreciate and deeply regret the frustration that MDL going into administration will have caused for everyone. I want to sincerely thank all our employees, customers, suppliers and partners for your support throughout the past 12 years and especially during this difficult time where we have tried so hard to find a workable solution for the company and all its stakeholders."
PwC subsequently noted that the administration would result in the immediate loss of 399 jobs.
