Delivery platform Sorted is on the brink of being sold.
The company, which was founded in 2010 by David Grimes with the launch of MyParcelDelivery.com, has gone on to become a global software company.
Now it has emerged that AIM-listed Location Sciences, a location data insight and verification company, has entered into a secured convertible bridge loan agreement with Sorted to lend it up to £2.6 million for ‘working capital purposes’.
The company has also entered into exclusive non-binding heads of terms regarding a potential acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Sorted for a nominal £1.
It is anticipated that as part of the proposed acquisition, Location Sciences will assume around £4m of Sorted’s outstanding debt.
If the proposed acquisition proceeds, it’s intended that the existing subscribers, including shareholders of Sorted, will be given the opportunity to participate in a cash subscription for up to £5m of new shares in Location Sciences to seek to align their interests with those of existing Location Sciences shareholders.
The planned acquisition would constitute a reverse takeover under AIM rules and is subject to the completion of due diligence and satisfactory negotiations.
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Location Sciences has agreed to provide Sorted with a secured bridge loan facility of up to £2.6m to be made in tranches. The loan has a redemption premium of 50% and is secured by a first fixed and floating charge over Sorted’s business and assets granted.
Sorted’s unaudited management accounts for the year ended September 30th 2022 state that the company generated revenues in that year of £6.4m and a loss before tax of around £14.5m. At the same time Sorted had assets of approximately £32.4m.
Founded in 2010, Sorted grew rapidly as its technology allowed customers to easily track deliveries and returns or exchange parcels.
Between January to December 2020, Sorted enjoyed a 100% increase in shipment volume versus the whole of 2019. In January 2021 alone, Sorted saw a 243% growth through its SaaS platform in comparison to the same period in 2020.
The company serves more than 500 customers across the UK and US, from mid-sized, growing eCommerce businesses to multi-national organisations.
In December 2021, Sorted raised £30m ($40m) in a Series C investment round led by Chrysalis Investments and Arete Capital Partners.
At the time Carmen Carey, who took over as CEO from David Grimes in September 2021, said the firm would use the funds to ‘hire at pace’ and support their US ambitions.
The delivery platform employed more than 115 people at the time and also acquired fellow Manchester firm Clicksit, an automated returns startup.
This morning Carey told BusinessCloud: “Our team continues to focus on delivering an outstanding service to our customers.”
After deciding to step back from being the day-to-day CEO, Grimes became a non-executive director.