Made.com hires advisers as it eyes stock market float worth up to £1bn

Made.com is closing in on a London stock market listing worth up to £1 billion after picking a trio of investment banks to advise on the online furniture retailer’s flotation.

The company has seen sales spike over the past year as locked-down customers have sought to freshen up their homes and repurpose rooms in order to work from home.

It has now appointed JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Liberum to draw up plans for a potential initial public offering (IPO) later this year, in a move first reported by Sky News.

It is understood Made is most likely to push for a public listing but would still consider selling a stake or the outright sale of the company.

A listing or stake sale would help to finance the company’s ambitions to grow substantially across Europe, with plans to expand further in markets such as Germany.

Made was founded around 10 years ago by serial entrepreneurs Brent Hoberman and Ning Li and currently employs around 650 people.

In the company’s most recent statement, Made said: “The rapid acceleration in the shift to online shopping, with three to five years’ change in the past 12 months, meant that 2020 was extremely successful for Made, despite the challenging environment.

“As we move into 2021, we are exploring the best way to ensure that the business has all the resources required to build on our momentum and seize this unique moment of opportunity.”

The listing comes after a busy start to 2021 for the London markets, with fellow online retailers Moonpig and Virgin Wines among firms to go public.

A raft of fellow e-commerce companies are understood to be eyeing up potential floats, including Deliveroo, Music Magpie and Very Group.