Stockport-based musicMagpie looks set to become the latest company to float on the stock market with reports it could be valued at up to £250million.
Founded in 2007 by Steve Oliver (pictured) and Walter Gleeson as a way for people to sell their unwanted CDs, DVDs and electronics, the business has evolved to focus on re-selling smartphones, tablets and game consoles.
It was backed by the Manchester office of NVM Private Equity in 2015 and has thrived in lockdown, with group revenue up 18.1% to £153.4m for the year to November 2020, with EBITDA up 217% to £13m. In the US it trades from an Atlanta base under the decluttr brand.
The Times reported that musicMagpie would be confirming plans for an initial public offering within the next month, following Moonpig and The Hut Group, other brands with Northern presences which have floated in the last six months.
It would be part of the London Stock Exchange’s “Green Economy Mark”, which was set up in 2019 to highlight businesses that generate over 50% of their revenues from sustainable sources.
Last year, musicMagpie gave a “second life” to 400,000 consumer technology products, preventing 2,500 tonnes of mainly plastic waste from going into landfill.
Today, a statement from the company said: “After a sustained period of strong performance, musicMagpie is reviewing a number of attractive alternatives to best support our continuing rapid growth.
“Helping consumers stay connected, work from home and be entertained for less, while enabling them to raise fast cash from unwanted items in an easy process, has been especially important recently. Our circular economy model is popular with many millions of users and we look forward to the future with confidence under our mantra of being ‘Smart for you, Smart for the Planet’.”
musicMagpie has over 7.2million customers having added a million last year, and it’s the world’s number one transaction reseller on eBay and Amazon based on feedback data, with around 12 million positive feedback reviews on eBay and 9.5 million positive feedback reviews on Amazon.
