Buy now, pay later service Laybuy has been placed into receivership.
David Webb and Robert Campbell of Deloitte New Zealand have been appointed as receivers and managers of three Laybuy companies.
Managing director Gary Rohloff said he was "absolutely heartbroken" at the decision.
"This is a devastating time for the Laybuy team, and I will be doing everything I can to support them as we go through this process."
Laybuy's business model lends customers a fixed amount of credit so that they can pay for a purchase in six weekly instalments.
Laybuy suffered from a downturn alongside other operators in the buy now, pay later sector.
This model boomed during Covid-19 lockdowns, however, the rise of rivals such as Temu, consolidation, regulation, and a slowing economy presented challenges.
Rohloff said the company had been working "incredibly hard" to achieve profitability.
"While we have been making good progress over the last two years, the economic downturn has been longer than we expected and this has had a significant impact on the retail sector in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom," he said.
He added that reduced consumer spending, higher credit losses and more fraudulent activity hurt the company.
“This, alongside increased financing costs, created a perfect storm that was difficult to recover from.”
Deloitte said Laybuy Group Holdings Limited, Laybuy Holdings Limited and Laybuy Australia Pty Ltd have all been placed into receivership.
"For the sake of clarity, the UK-based entities and certain other entities in the Laybuy Group are not in receivership."
Customers should make payments as normal and did not have to take any other action at this stage, Deloitte said.
On Friday, Laybuy told merchants who were using its service that the payment offering was suspended.
It added: "We don’t currently have a resolution timeframe but will ensure you are immediately notified. Thank you for your patience."
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