Laybuy

Laybuy Holdings (UK) Ltd was the London-based UK operating arm of Laybuy, the buy-now-pay-later provider founded in New Zealand in 2017 by Gary Rohloff, which let shoppers split purchases into six weekly instalments. The UK was its largest market, with active customers peaking at around 610,000 in March 2022 before falling to about 484,000. The group listed on the ASX in 2020 but later delisted after its share price slumped, and between December 2023 and February 2024 suffered fraud and cyber attacks concentrated on the UK operation. After an emergency sale process failed, the New Zealand and Australian entities went into receivership on 17 June 2024 and the UK website was disabled. FTI Consulting's Samuel Ballinger, Christopher Bennett and Matthew Callaghan were appointed joint administrators of Laybuy Holdings (UK) Ltd and Laybuy (UK) Ltd on 24 June 2024. Klarna bought only the New Zealand business in August 2024; the UK companies moved to creditors' voluntary liquidation in July 2026.

UK customers were told to keep repaying existing instalments while no new transactions were accepted; the UK assets were excluded from Klarna's August 2024 purchase of the New Zealand business. Both UK companies remained in administration for two years, with insurance proceeds from the cyber attack shared with the UK administrators, before moving to creditors' voluntary liquidation in July 2026.

A BNPL lender funded by wholesale debt is exposed on both sides when consumer spending softens and credit losses rise, and the fraud losses that hit the UK book in late 2023 removed what little margin remained. Operating a UK subsidiary of an overseas-listed parent also left UK customers and creditors in a separate, slower insolvency process from the one that sold the brand.