Merlin.pl
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Merlin.pl was one of Poland's pioneering online bookstores, founded in 1999 and later operated by Warsaw-listed Merlin Group S.A. (NewConnect). After years of decline - its last published annual report, for 2021, showed revenues of just 0.9 million złoty against an operating loss of 0.3 million and a net loss of 86.3 million złoty - the company's online stores merlin.pl, cdp.pl and nieprzeczytane.pl stopped functioning. In January 2024 the board filed with the Warsaw court for sanation (restructuring) proceedings, and on November 4, 2024 the court opened the sanation proceedings, appointing Gaweł Jarosiński as administrator and rejecting a creditor's bankruptcy petition. The company has not resumed regular operations since.
02 / Merlin.pl FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Merlin.pl collapsed after years of shrinking scale and deep losses. Its last published annual report for 2021 showed revenues of only 0.9 million złoty with an 86.3 million złoty net loss, reflecting a hollowed-out business after the company drifted into unrelated ventures (including crypto projects) that regulators later flagged. A creditor, SPV BBC 2, filed for the company's bankruptcy in July 2023 over outstanding debt, and an interim court supervisor was appointed in November 2023. With no path to paying its debts, the board opted for sanation proceedings in January 2024 - a restructuring route that protects against creditor claims - which the court opened in November 2024. The retail stores never returned: merlin.pl, cdp.pl and nieprzeczytane.pl remain non-functioning, and the 2024 annual report states regular operations did not resume that year.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Merlin.pl was founded in Poland as one of the country's first online bookstores.
- Decline
The last published annual report (2021) showed revenues of 0.9 million złoty and a net loss of 86.3 million złoty.
- Creditor action
A creditor filed for Merlin Group's bankruptcy over outstanding debt; an interim court supervisor was appointed in November 2023.
- Sanation
On January 16, 2024 the board filed for sanation proceedings; on November 4, 2024 the Warsaw court opened them, appointed an administrator, and dismissed the bankruptcy petition. The online stores no longer function and regular operations did not resume.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Publish financials on time: Merlin Group was repeatedly sanctioned for breaching disclosure obligations, leaving creditors and investors flying blind for years.
- 02
Stay in your core business: drifting from book retail into unrelated ventures (including crypto) compounded the decline.
- 03
Face insolvency early: creditors forced the issue with a bankruptcy petition before the board acted; sanation came only after an interim supervisor was imposed.
- 04
Scale is a moat in e-commerce: once revenues collapsed to under a million złoty, fixed costs and debt made recovery nearly impossible.