Online car seller Cazoo has gone to court, three years after listing on the New York Stock Exchange at a valuation of £5 billion ($6.3 billion).
The company, founded in 2018 by Zoopla founder and serial entrepreneur Alex Chesterman, has cut 728 jobs since the beginning of March after launching major cost-cutting efforts in an effort to stay afloat.
However, it has now appointed administrators to Teneo, who will look to sell Cazoo's remaining marketplace business.
After the company launched, it grew rapidly but posted significant losses in recent years as it invested heavily in marketing and sponsorships, such as sponsorship deals with football clubs Aston Villa and Everton.
Last year, Cazoo cut hundreds of jobs and eliminated its used car markets in the European Union amid efforts to improve its finances.
And in March, the company launched its dramatic restructuring and has since sold its entire vehicle inventory and transitioned to a pure-play marketplace platform similar to Auto Trader, for people looking to buy and sell cars.
In the process, it sold several repair centers and customer pickup centers to Constellation Group, the rival company behind Cinch and WeBuyAnyCar.
It also sold its wholesale business and assets to rival G3 earlier this week.
Matt Mawhinney, joint administrator of Teneo, said: “Following our appointment, we continue to progress discussions with various stakeholders regarding the marketplace business and remaining customer collection centres.
“The market model is performing above expectations, with a strong distributor roll-up and the appointment of administration gives us the opportunity to secure the sale of the business over the course of the coming weeks.”
Teneo said the asset sales have generated additional value for creditors and “preserved a significant number of jobs.”
The company was founded in the UK but listed in New York in 2021, in a move seen as a blow to London at the time, with a valuation of around £5 billion ($6.3 billion). .
Cazoo Group, the US-listed parent company of Cazoo Ltd, has entered into voluntary liquidation.
Insolvency experts said they will retain the company's remaining 208 employees for the time being during the administration process.
This includes 124 mostly London-based staff linked to its market business and 25 staff at its Manchester and Northampton customer collection centres, with administrators hopeful that many of them can transfer as part of a successful sale.
It has also retained 59 staff, mainly at its head office and customer service centers in London and Southampton, who will help with the liquidation process.
