The manufacturing arm of a British luxury smartphone maker is to be wound down after a failed buyout bid in the U.K. High Court, according to multiple media reports.
Vertu Corporation Limited (VCL) made products for the super-rich that came with hefty price tags. Some Vertu models boasted state of the art technology, superior craftsmanship and materials, as well as bespoke services - including a concierge service which provided 24-hour worldwide assistance to users. Vertu's phones started at around £11,100 ($14,390) and a top-of-the-range jewel-encrusted bespoke model could reportedly sell for £280,000.
Murat Hakan Uzan, who owns the Vertu brand separately, sought to buy the manufacturer out of administration in a pre-packaged deal but failed this week, according to the U.K.'s Telegraph newspaper. The Financial Times reported that he is retaining the brand, the technology and design licenses and plans to rebuild the phone maker.
A spokesman for Vertu told the Telegraph: "Our best efforts to achieve a pre-pack administration have failed because the financial requirements specified within the negotiations went beyond the point where the new company had a chance of financial viability."
"No other part of the group is affected by this development," they added.
Email addresses and telephone numbers at Vertu were no longer in use when CNBC tried to contact the firm.
Read the full report at the Telegraph's website here.