LetsBuyIt.com files for bankruptcy
UK Internet retailer LetsBuyIt.com today announced it is filing for bankruptcy at an Amsterdam district court on Friday.
‘On account of their findings to date, the administrators of Letsbuyit.com have considered it necessary to apply for the conversion of the suspension of payments into bankruptcy,’ said the company’s Dutch administrators Trenitee van Dorne. ‘The application will be dealt with at the Court’s hearing of this coming Friday 19 January.’
The company, which filed for creditor protection in December of last year, in the hope of finding potential partners to rescue its operations, has been in talks with Norwegian competitor CoShopper and France’s Dealparnters.com. A source close to Letsbuyit.com told Reuters that investors remained hopeful and ‘the future of the company will be decided either way by the end of the week’.
The UK e-tailer expected to break even in the first quarter of 2002 but in its third quarterly report to September 30, 2000, it reported a net loss of Euros 93.6m.
LetsBuyIt, which is syndicated in The Netherlands, was granted the reprieve by Dutch courts and two administrators were appointed to go over its accounts. Under the ruling, the company has four weeks to investigate its financial situation and explore future options.
On 3 January, the company made founder John Palmer was temporary CEO after the management team resigned en masse at the end of 2000. Palmer and administrators Paul Schaink and Maarten Dropof were put in charge of the company?s management.
LetsBuyIt.com is listed on the Frankfurt’s Neuer Markt high-tech market.Links
Letsbuyit.com shares tumble 68%