Cazoo, the British online car retailer once-valued at around £6bn has finally fallen into administration today after month’s of high-profile struggles.
Teneo has been formally appointed administrator just over a week after former Everton, World Snooker and St Leger sponsor filed to seek temporary protection from creditors.
More than 700 people have already lost their jobs as a result of the crisis at Cazoo, with a further 200, including staff at the firm’s Manchester collections site, now at risk. The administrators are expected to retain a number of staff to operate the remaining marketplace model while they explore a sale.
On Monday, the group’s wholesale arm was sold to G3, with Constellation Automotive, the owner of Cazoo’s rival, Cinch, also having acquired a number of assets from the stricken New York-listed company.
Parties reportedly interested in Cazoo’s marketplace, including its brand, include BMW, Motorpoint, Car Gurus and Motors.co.uk.
Cazoo was founded in 2018 by serial entrpreneur Alex Chesterman, the successful entrepreneur behind property portal Zoopla.
It raised several tranches of funding at ever-higher valuations before making its stock exchange debut in 2021, when investors valued it at $8bn.
Cazoo spent tens of millions of pounds on sponsorship deals in football, snooker and darts in a rapid attempt to gain market share.
Other assets which have been sold in recent weeks include its vehicle fleet, which sources said had been achieved at higher-than-anticipated values, reflecting a current shortage of used cars in the market.
Chesterman departed the business in early 2023 following a restructuring which saw hundreds of millions of dollars of debt converted to equity.
The entry into administration comes after a further wave of restructuring of its balance sheet and operations.
Matt Mawhinney, joint administrator at Teneo, 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.”
