A running list of major e-commerce platform transactions in 2021

Last year, a number of retailers made deals in the form of partnerships , acquisitions and initial public offerings.

According to foreign media information, Retail Ecommerce Ventures has snapped up IPs of bankrupt retailers including Pier 1 , Modell's and Stein Mart.

VF Corp. (owner of Vans, The North Face, and Timberland) acquired popular streetwear brand Supreme for $2.1 billion . Multiple companies went public, including DTC darling Casper , secondhand platform Poshmark, and specialty pet retailer Petco.

In fact, according to data from the trading platform, IPOs across industries reached a two-decade high in 2020, reaching 407, a year-on-year increase of 109%.

While retail IPOs got off to a slow start early in the year, activity picked up in the second half, with eight companies filing for IPOs in the fourth quarter, bringing the total for the year to 12, according to FactSet.

However, last year also saw several deals fall through as the pandemic rocked the industry. Private equity firm Sycamore Partners was set to acquire Victoria's Secret from L Brands for $525 million, but after weeks of back-and-forth, the two companies announced a "mutual termination" in May.

J. Crew and Gap Inc., which announced intentions to divest their well-performing Madewell and Old Navy banners, did not back those plans.

The Retail Dive Team is tracking some of the most significant mergers , acquisitions , IPOs and other deals right now . Here's a running list of some of the biggest deals so far:

Among them, there are two news that have attracted more attention, namely Apollo and ThredUp.

Private equity firm Apollo Global Management plans to obtain long-term debt to finance its proposed acquisition of Michaels.

Sales of crafts, puzzles and games have surged during the pandemic as people have been stuck at home. The retailer’s board has unanimously approved the $5 billion offer and has 25 days to find a better bid.

But competition in the space is fierce and Michaels is demanding further improvements to its operations, including its stores, making the debt a potential burden, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData. High debt and high management fees under private equity have previously disrupted many retail sales and led to several bankruptcies.

Second-hand clothing platform ThredUp announced that it has submitted an S-1 application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a $100 million offering. The company applied to be listed on the Nasdaq with the stock code TDUP, and underwriters include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

The resale market is expected to reach $44 billion by 2029, with 52% of consumers expecting to spend more on secondhand fashion, according to a 2020 report from the company . ThredUp was founded in 2009 and had 1.24 million active buyers and 428,000 active sellers at the time of filing.