By Jon Robinson
Online car retailer Cazoo has formally collapsed into administration while its parent company is heading for liquidation.
The London-headquartered group, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has appointed David Soden and Matthew Mawhinney of Teneo Financial Advisory as joint administrators.
Cazoo Ltd, Cazoo Holdings Limited and Cazoo Properties Limited have been placed into administration while parent company Cazoo Group is to be put into voluntary liquidation.
The confirmation comes after it became clear this morning (Tuesday, May 21), that a rescue deal for Cazoo would not be secured.
Cazoo, which was once worth more than £5bn, was founded in 2018 by Alex Chesterman.
The move comes after Cazoo announced a major change to its business model, plans to cut jobs and the departure of its chief executive in March.
More than 700 redundancies were made with the move to a marketplace model between March 1 and May 17.
Administrators searching for Cazoo sale
A Teneo statement said: “The marketplace model is now established, revenue generating and performing ahead of expectations with interest from almost one hundred car dealers including many household names wishing to trade on the Cazoo platform.
“Following the group’s successful transition, to optimise returns to creditors, the administration filing marks the appropriate next step in the restructuring of the business.
“The director placed the companies into administration to allow the joint administrators to continue discussions with new and existing parties interested in the marketplace business, with a view to concluding a sale over the coming weeks.”
Cazoo is expected to continue to trade in administration with around 200 employees.
‘Interested parties’ eyeing online car retailer
Joint administrator Matt Mawhinney said: “Following Cazoo’s decision to pivot to a marketplace model, the group has been winding down its legacy operations and sold a substantial number of its businesses and assets.
“These sales have generated additional value for creditors, preserved a significant number of jobs, and ensured that leases have been transferred to new operators to mitigate losses to landlords.
“Following our appointment, we continue to progress discussions with a number of interested parties on the marketplace business and remaining customer collections centres.
‘The marketplace model is performing ahead of expectations, with strong dealer sign up, and the administration appointment provides us with an opportunity to secure a sale of the business over the course of coming weeks.”
