MusicMagpie shares surge after tie up with French unicorn Back Market
Shares in musicMagpie jumped by more than 35% after the recommerce business struck a deal with French tech unicorn Black Market.
MusicMagpie will launch its products on the Back Market UK marketplace by the end of this month and on its US platform in May.
In addition to mobile phones, the agreement includes tech categories such as games consoles, tablets, wearables and MacBooks.
Back Market’s ecommerce platform connects shoppers with certified refurbishers, offering access to thousands of products from over 1,500 sellers.
It joined France’s growing 2022 list of unicorns in January after reaching over €5bn in valuation following a €449m funding boost.
The recent deal adds an additional sales channel for musicMagpie’s products and will supplement existing sales through its own websites as well as Amazon and eBay.
Following the news shares climbed 36% to 64.90p, up from this morning’s opening of 50p.
Steve Oliver, CEO and co-founder of musicMagpie, said: “musicMagpie and Back Market operate complementary models and have a shared mission to challenge consumers to rethink their tech product consumption, make restored devices mainstream, and tackle the growing problem of e-waste.
“This is therefore an exciting partnership that will help musicMagpie’s products reach a wider audience and give Back Market users a greater breadth of choice.
“We look forward to working with Back Market in what we are confident will be a long and fruitful relationship.”
Back Market has 6m customers across 16 countries, and aggregates approved sellers.
Unlike musicMagpie, Back Market, one of France’s most valuable start-ups, does not purchase or hold stock, or carry out the refurbishment process itself.
Prospective sellers must go through a rigorous screening process before they are allowed to list on the marketplace.
Thibaud Hug de Larauze, co-founder and CEO of Back Market, said: “Back Market is committed to working with the best resellers and refurbishers to ensure that buying renewed is easier, cheaper and more appealing for everyone.
“We’re delighted to join forces with musicMagpie, the pioneers of the refurbished tech industry in the UK, and this partnership represents an opportunity to further expand the refurbished tech market in the UK.
“The milestone partnership for Back Market will give even more people access to refurbished tech that they can trust, and more choice when it comes to helping to tackle the global e-waste crisis.”
