ABCs
Selling company data through an ABC
In an ABC, an assignee rather than a bankruptcy judge winds the business down. Assignees, and founders thinking about the route, may be holding an unpriced asset in the company's email, Slack and files.
In this guide
01
How Zulily's ABC was set up
Zulily's ABC started in December 2023. Douglas Wilson Companies handled it through an entity named Zulily ABC and planned to sell the assets over 12 to 18 months. A long runway helps with data: a buyer cannot sample an archive shut down in the first month.
For $4.5M plus costs, Beyond bought Zulily's website, domains, trademarks, social accounts, site software and a customer database.
02
Customer lists and email archives are different assets
Zulily's price was for consumer records bundled with a brand. AI data buyers want the internal trail of how the company actually operated, de-identified. So far no reported ABC has sold email or Slack history to an AI buyer.
03
Who an assignee can call
- Direct buyers that take closed companies: Pewter, micro1, Mercor
- Brokers: License My Data, which names assignees and wind-down officers among its contacts
- Wind-down marketplaces: SimpleClosure's AssetHub
- Liquidators with a data line: Hilco
Keep the systems paid through the sale period. See keeping a workspace alive.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can an assignee sell the company's email archive?
An assignee generally takes title to the assets for creditors, so yes in principle, subject to contracts and privacy law. No reported ABC has sold one to an AI buyer yet.
Does an ABC need court approval to sell data?
ABCs run outside bankruptcy court, under state law. Rules vary by state, so ask counsel.
What did Zulily's ABC sell?
Beyond took the brand, domains, trademarks, site software, social accounts and a customer database for $4.5M plus costs.
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Sources
Every number on this page links back to one of these.
- 1Retail Dive: Zulily goes out of business and liquidatesretaildive.com
- 2Retail Dive: Beyond acquires Zulily's brand and assetsretaildive.com
- 3Pewter Datapewterdata.com
- 4License My Datalicensemydata.com
- 5Hilco Global: intellectual property serviceshilcoglobal.com
- 6Sherwood Partners: servicessherwoodea.com
- 701net: SimpleClosure AssetHub on track to return $10M to venture-backed startups01net.it
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