Well, Stock is still up 3x since October. But it looks like they use the money to fund new companies.
They also added a detailed warning that their investment might not be successful, citing earlier examples.
A good move, ... so take care.
Tuesday December 28, 11:17 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Harris & Harris Group Founds Adaptive Web Technologies, Inc.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--December 28, 1999--Harris & Harris Group, Inc. announced today that it has filed with the state of Delaware a new Delaware corporation, Adaptive Web Technologies, Inc. Adaptive Web Technologies will initially engage in researching and analyzing the feasibility of developing and commercializing certain intellectual property that has been conceived by a professor at a leading research university. Should Adaptive determine for any reason, including but not limited to intellectual property, commercial or technological considerations, not to proceed with the development and commercialization effort, it is anticipated that Adaptive would be liquidated and the remaining funds, if any, would be returned to Harris & Harris Group.
Harris & Harris Group has agreed to fund Adaptive initially with $1,000,000 as its sole initial shareholder. Should Adaptive elect to pursue the development and commercialization effort, which might or might not subsequently prove successful, it is expected that Harris & Harris Group's percentage ownership interest would decline as other parties acquired interests in Adaptive, including co-founding research in scientists, other sources of intellectual property, employees, other investors and the like.
Harris & Harris Group has made similar investments in intellectual property in the past. To learn more about the Company's policies regarding such investments, please see the Company's 1998 Annual Report on Form 10-K, including but not limited to the section on page 3 entitled, ''Intellectual Property.'' In general, the Company's private equity investments tend to be very early stage high technology start-ups and are highly risky, but intellectual property investments such as Adaptive are especially risky. For example, in at least two similar such investments in the past, Harris & Harris Group lost substantially all of its investment. In 1995, Harris & Harris Group lost $77,600 or 77.6 percent of its investment in CMA Group, Inc. In 1998, Harris & Harris Group lost $210,000 or 100 percent of its investment in MultiTarget, Inc. |
