BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Clothing brand Vulpine has announced that as of today, the company has gone into administration. The brand recently cancelled a crowdcube funding drive for £750,000 after it was clear it would come up short – previously Vulpine raised £500,000 over its target of £500,000.
In a statement sent to investors founder Nick Hussey cited financial constraints due to the late arrival of the Spring/ Summer 2017 range and lack of campaign momentum as key factors in the brand’s dissolution:
“It is with intense sadness that I have to inform you that Vulpine is insolvent and I have had to take the extremely difficult but essential decision to place the company I founded into administration, under UK law, hence my unusual formality.
Two Partners from RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP will be appointed administrators next week, after a special resolution was passed yesterday by ‘A Shareholders’, who are able to vote. Once appointed the Administrators will have full control of the company and I will no longer be able to make any decisions.
We have done all we can to finance the company. The late arrival of the majority of our Spring Summer 2017 stock put us in a more difficult cash position. Thus we sought to raise investment again through crowdfunding, but this did not gain the necessary momentum to complete, likely due to the very poor trading figures of the last financial year.
We pulled out of the Crowdcube attempted raise and began contacting previously interested investors and potential buyers of Vulpine, plus a raft of new contacts. Whilst there was strong recognition of the brand, and initial verbal interest, none have produced offers or ongoing due diligence, and communication has stopped. It is highly possible that, having seen our precarious financial position and the complications of doing a fast enough deal, they are waiting to pick the business up in administration instead, if any deal is to be done.
Vulpine’s brand and business structure remains relatively undamaged at this point, and any acquisition via administration would see the highest potential value to all stakeholders if conducted as quickly as possible.
The proposed Administrators plan is to try to sell the company’s assets, such as brand, goodwill, database & website to maximize realisations for the benefit of creditors and potentially shareholders. You can contact Robert Young at RSM for advice on this process, or if you believe there may be an interested buyer: robert.young@rsmuk.com"
