Paddle8 News

 The Financial Times recently posted on the financial backing recently obtained by Paddle8, once part of the Auctionata group.  Lightyear Collective is the new Delaware corporation investing in Paddle8, and terms were not disclosed. The short posts states an overhaul of Paddle8 technology is expected, so it might be interesting to see where this goes.

The Financial Times reports

Online auction business Paddle8 has secured backing from a multi-family office called Lightyear Collective that has bolstered Paddle8 management’s buyout of its business from Auctionata (the latter began formal insolvency proceedings on March 1).

Lightyear Collective was incorporated in Delaware only in January and its members are not disclosed, but are known to include Christopher Hsu, the hedge fund manager who runs the Hong Kong-based Kilometre Capital Management (this business is not involved in the Paddle8 acquisition).

In February, Paddle8 hosted its 1,000th charity auction, which raised more than $370,000 for New York’s Bronx Museum. The sale included Ugo Rondinone’s “White silver pink mountain” (2016) and Henry Taylor’s “Untitled” (2012).

“While the merger with Auctionata was not what we had hoped, we’re thrilled to be operating as an independent company once again,” says Alexander Gilkes, Paddle8’s president and co-founder. An overhaul of the group’s technology will follow, Gilkes says.

The financial terms of the deal with Lightyear have not been disclosed.

Source: The Financial Times