Blipfoto rescue deal expected by end of week

Joe Tree, founder of the Edinburgh based website company. Picture: Dan Phillips

Glasgow-based intellectual property specialist Metis Partners was instructed by Tom MacLennan of FRP Advisory, provisional liquidator of Blipfoto, to handle the sale of the “technological expertise and intellectual property” behind the site, including the treasured photo journals of its millions of users.

MacLennan had earlier told The Scotsman Blipfoto had been suffering from “funding issues” and all 11 staff had been laid off. The website has been kept up and running amid discussions with potential buyers. A group of investors behind several Polaroid brand properties – including Jeffrey Hecktman, chief executive of turnaround specialist Hilco Global, and Bobby Sager of Gordon Brothers – has been named the preferred bidder for the Blipfoto assets. The website was founded ten years ago and in January signed a partnership with Polaroid that saw it rebranded Polaroid Blipfoto.

Hecktman said: “The Blipfoto brand has created a genuine global community with users in over 175 countries who share the most important moments of their lives on a daily basis.

“By leveraging this type of powerful social media tool with the direction and great success we are having with the Polaroid brand as a whole and our new retail concept called Polaroid Fotobar, we believe this is a fantastic addition to our current growth platform.”

Nat Baldwin, head of corporate recovery at Metis, said: “Blipfoto has benefited from remarkable brand affection. The preferred bidder views Blipfoto as a strategic opportunity and has expressed excitement about the prospects for growing the business and nurturing existing users.”

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