Report: BlackRock to Auction Off Amazon Aggregator SellerX
BlackRock is reportedly looking to auction off Amazon aggregator SellerX after SellerX stopped making payments on a loan.
The auction is scheduled for Sept. 17 in Berlin, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (Aug. 28), citing an advertisement for the auction seen in a German newspaper.
SellerX did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
The Bloomberg report said that auctioning the company is an “unusually aggressive step”; that such auctions can be done in Germany when negotiations between an enterprise, investors and lenders break down; and that the ad said the auction of SellerX is being conducted by a debt administration services provider.
BlackRock and Victory Park Capital extended a $400 million loan to SellerX in 2021 and increased it in 2023 when SellerX acquired another Amazon aggregator called Elevate Brands, according to the report.
SellerX said in a July 25 press release that it appointed retail industry veteran Olivier Van Calster as CEO and managing director.
“I am excited about the opportunity to join SellerX as CEO at this important moment in the company’s development and look forward to work with the entire SellerX team as we develop a clear and sustainable path to reaccelerate SellerX’s growth,” Van Calster said in the release.
The news of the auction comes two days after it was reported that BlackRock and Apollo Global Management are considering providing debt financing for a merger of two other Amazon aggregators: Branded and Heyday.
Branded is in talks to acquire Heyday in exchange for $521 million in equity in a new company, Essor, that would be worth more than $1 billion, Bloomberg reported Monday (Aug. 26), citing unnamed sources.
The deal would include debt from BlackRock and Apollo to help the new company make acquisitions in the direct-to-consumer eCommerce market, according to the report.
The fortunes of some Amazon aggregators soured rapidly as the growth of eCommerce hit some headwinds, funding dried up and macro pressures increased.
Two Amazon aggregators filed for bankruptcy over the last two years: Thrasio Holdings, which did so in February, and Benitago, which filed for bankruptcy in 2023, two years after raising $325 million in funding.
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