Made.com Shares Surge as Furniture Retailer Invites Bids From 'Select' Suitors

By Scott Kanowsky

Investing.com -- Shares in Made.com Group PLC (LON:MADE) jumped by nearly 24% on Monday after the online furniture retailer announced that it had whittled down the number of suitors interested in potentially buying the company.

In a statement, Made said it had invited a "select number of parties" to deliver firm bids by the end of October, following a process of due diligence. The company picked these offers out of an unspecified list of initial non-binding indicative takeover proposals.

The London-based e-commerce group did not provide details about which entities had put forward offers, but said the proposals provide a "range of different transaction structures," including possible bids for "issued" and "to be issued" share capital in Made.

The firm first announced its intention to explore a sale in late September following a slump in performance due to an inflation-driven deterioration in consumer spending on non-essential items.

Made, which previously raised £90 million from an initial public offering last year, has issued several profit warnings in 2022. The downturn has also left it struggling to secure the cash needed to keep the business afloat.

Meanwhile, shares have plummeted by nearly 95% over the past one-year period.

Made reiterated that any potential buyer has been informed that it would require funding in the range of £45 million to £70 million to function as a stand-alone public company over the next 18 months.

"Based on the working capital requirements of the Group, any firm offer would require interim financing to be put in place at the time that firm offers are expected," it said.