- The unmaking of Made.com
- Should you avoid IPOs in buoyant markets?
- Lots of idea-generating content…
On 21 June 2021, the home furniture website Made.com (MADE) listed its shares in London at 200p each, raising £100mn. The price was “a bit disappointing”, according to a banker not involved in the listing who spoke to the Financial Times, although the sale of a further £94mn-worth of stock by early investors including co-founders Ning Li and Brent Hoberman cushioned the blow.
With cash-flush equity markets keen to back pandemic winners, a debut market valuation of £1bn had been touted, although everyone ultimately settled at £775mn. Thirteen months later, the company is now worth £35mn, after top-line growth slowed then inverted, margins collapsed, and net cash cratered from £175mn to £31.5mn in the space of a year.