About a year ago, online retailer Packable was preparing to go public through a special-purpose buyout company. With the SPAC market having evaporated and the economy now sputtering, Packable is laying off staff and preparing to liquidate, according to internal documents reviewed by CNBC.
Packable is the parent company of Pharmapacks, an online retailer of health, personal care and beauty products. Pharmapacks was founded in 2010 as a single brick-and-mortar pharmacy in the Bronx, New York, before turning online and making a big home on Amazon.
Last September, Pharmapacks was Amazon’s No. 1 seller in the U.S., though it now ranks fifth among the site’s top sellers nationwide, according to research firm Marketplace Pulse.
Packable said in a notice to employees Monday that it was laying off 138 people, or roughly 20% of its staff, with the remaining 372 employees expected to be terminated as “individual closing responsibilities are completed.” The memorandum was signed by Leanna Bautista, the company’s chief people officer.
Packable failed to secure new financing that would have allowed it to stay in business, the release said.
“We diligently pursued internal and external financing options, but ultimately fell through,” the company said. “As the company has no viable financing alternatives, we are forced to cease operations, liquidate any remaining collateral and close the business, including the facility you report to.”
Packaged financing previously secured by high-profile investors including Carlyle Group, Fidelity and Lugard Road Capital. In addition to Amazon, the company sells products in marketplaces run by Walmart, eBay and Target.
As of 2020, Amazon was by far Packable’s largest channel, accounting for 80% of sales, according to an investor presentation. Amazon’s third-party marketplace has become the focal point of its dominant e-commerce business, as it now accounts for more than half of online retail sales. Because of Amazon’s global reach and massive customer base, many retailers rely on the company for most, and in some cases, all of their business.
Packable’s last year has been filled with turbulence. After announcing in September plans to merge into a SPAC – Highland Transcend Partners I Corp. – in a deal that valued the company at $1.55 billion, the market began to turn and investors lost appetite for the SPAC.
In March, Packable canceled a deal to take the company public, citing “unfavorable market conditions,” just days before Highland Transcend’s shareholders were scheduled to meet. Packable CEO Andrew Vagenas quietly resigned in April and was succeeded by Daniel Myers, according to the company’s website. Myers, a former supply chain executive at Mondelez, was appointed to Packable’s board last year. Vagenas still sits on the company’s board, according to his LinkedIn.
Not a single SPAC was issued in July as what remained of the market dried up completely, according to CNBC calculations of SPAC Research data. A boom in 2020 and 2021 created more than 600 target-hunting SPACs.
For Packable, the disappearance of capital represented a dramatic turnaround for a business that thrived after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. With consumers stuck at home, online spending soared and investors poured into the space.
Revenue slowed last year from double-digit growth in 2020 as the company struggled to navigate supply chain constraints, which “resulted in significant out-of-stock inventory, delays in purchase orders and delays in onboarding new customers,” according to an investor presentation.
However, the business was still able to grow slightly through early 2022. In February, Packable said its average daily revenue in January rose to about $1.6 million from $1.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Representatives from Packable did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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