UK vape firm Plxsur sold for £76,500 after touting $1 billion revenue target

Key points 

• Plxsur was bought out of administration for £76,500 (about $97,000).
• The company pitched a “roll-up and sell to Big Tobacco” strategy, but never exercised any of its 12 acquisition options.
• In a March 2024 corporate presentation, Plxsur cited targets including ~10% global market share, $1 billion in revenue and over $200 million in earnings; administrators said the figures were aspirational and depended on acquisitions that did not happen.
• Goldman Sachs worked on a sale but did not find a Big Tobacco buyer; Stifel later sought credit financing, also without success.
• By late 2025, Plxsur had run short of cash, had no operating cash flow, and entered insolvency.

2Firsts, Jan. 22, 2026

According to Bloomberg News, UK vaping company Plxsur entered administration after failing to attract investment and running out of cash, before being bought out of the insolvency process for £76,500 (about $97,000), bringing its roll-up ambitions to an abrupt end.

Bloomberg cited documents from administrator KR8 Advisory Ltd. saying London-based Plxsur had signed 12 agreements that gave it the option to acquire vaping operations — including manufacturers in Latvia and the Czech Republic — but it ultimately did not complete any acquisitions.

Even so, Plxsur said in a March 2024 corporate presentation that it could secure about 10% of the global vaping market, lift annual revenue to $1 billion, and generate more than $200 million in earnings. KR8’s report said these figures were aspirational, reflecting the revenue scale Plxsur might have achieved if it had completed the acquisitions.

Bloomberg reported that Plxsur hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bankers to run a sale process, but failed to find a Big Tobacco buyer for the combined business. After that effort was paused, Plxsur selected Stifel Financial Corp. to seek credit investors willing to finance its acquisition strategy, but no deal materialised, according to people familiar with the matter.

Sources told Bloomberg that HPS Investment Partners came closest to providing a loan before walking away. A separate proposal later considered by investors led by New York-based private equity firm Cartesian Capital Group involved a roughly $90 million investment and a merger with a Nasdaq-listed SPAC, but that transaction also collapsed.

By late 2025, Plxsur’s cash position had deteriorated and, without operating cash flow or new capital injections in either equity or debt, the business fell into insolvency. KR8’s report said the buyer out of administration was James Cox, a Plxsur shareholder.

Bloomberg said a Goldman representative declined to comment, while Stifel, HPS and Cartesian did not respond to requests for comment.