Amazon Aggregator and Former ‘Unicorn’ Thrasio Files for Bankruptcy

Thrasio, one of the highest-profile Amazon “rollup” firms — so-called because they acquire Amazon third-party sellers en masse and roll them up into a larger entity to consolidate operations (and ideally scale profitability) — has filed for bankruptcy in an effort to “strengthen its financial position.”

Thrasio said it will continue normal business operations for its hundreds of Amazon FBA brands throughout the Chapter 11 process and that it has received $90 million in new financing from its lenders in order to see the company through what it hopes will be an expedited bankruptcy.

Times have changed dramatically from the ecommerce boom days of the pandemic, when private equity firms were snapping up successful third-party sellers hand over fist. Back in 2021, firms like Thrasio were able to buy these Amazon-based businesses for around 4X to 6X EBITDA and then turn that into a 15X to 25X valuation on the combined business.

But as the world has returned to normal and shoppers have returned to stores, the ecommerce bonanza has faded. And, as many aggregators like Thrasio have discovered, running hundreds or even just dozens of disparate businesses efficiently is hard, even when those businesses are based on a similar technical foundation.  

In the heyday of Amazon aggregation Thrasio was one of the biggest players in the space, and the company remains one of the largest aggregators to date with as many as 200 brands under its belt. The company achieved unicorn status with a $1 billion valuation in 2020 and closed a $100 million funding round in April 2021. Now, nearly three years later, Thrasio is looking to rid itself of approximately $495 million of debt through restructuring.

“Over the past year, we have made significant progress transforming the business and advancing our objective to introduce hundreds of brands to millions of customers,” said Greg Greeley, CEO of Thrasio in a statement. “We are taking steps to build on this progress by strengthening our financial position and working with our lenders to support our future success. Thrasio is one of the largest third-party sellers on the Amazon marketplace, and with a strengthened balance sheet and new capital, we will be better equipped to support our brands, scale our infrastructure and enable future opportunities.”