MTHR shareholders have to be mad as heck! Note the bold! SYTE offered them MORE!
MTHR is giving its shareholders .85 per share while SYTE offered them $1.15
Tuesday November 7, 11:12 pm Eastern Time
Mothernature's board approves plan to liquidate co
NEW YORK, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Internet health products retailer MotherNature.com (NasdaqNM:MTHR - news) said on Tuesday its board of directors had approved a plan to liquidate and dissolve the company.
At a time when many Internet companies are finding it difficult to get extra financing as the dot-com gold rush dries up, the Concord, Mass.-based company said it was winding down operations and trying to sell off certain assets.
MotherNature.com said that ``after a significant effort'' it had been unable to find a buyer acceptable to the company.
It also said its board had decided not to continue operating ``as an independent enterprise indefinitely if the potential for growth and availability of financing were so limited.''
The online retailer has tried several measures to cut costs. In September, it cut 25 jobs, or 20 percent of its workforce, to reduce cash consumption and streamline the business. It recently reported a third-quarter loss of $6.7 million, or 44 cents a share, compared to an $18.8 million
loss, or $1.93 a share pro forma in the same period last year.
MotherNature said it expected assets for distribution to shareholders will be worth about $15.8 million, or $1 a share.
Shareholders will receive $13.4 million worth of assets, or 85 cents a share by the end of the year.
The remaining 15 cents worth of assets will be held in a contingency reserve and will be distributed to shareholders over the next three years.
MotherNature.com said its board had called for a special shareholders' meeting on Nov. 30 to approve the liquidation plan.
One would-be buyer, online vitamin seller vitacost.com which offered to acquire MotherNature.com in August, said it was ``shocked and disappointed by the liquidation'', and said
the company did not formally consider its offer.
Last month, another suitor Internet holding company Sitestar Corp. (OTC BB:SYTE.OB - news) withdrew its $17.4 million offer to acquire MotherNature.com. Sitestar had originally offered to buy MotherNature.com in late August for $11.36 million, or 75 cents a share, then increased the offer in September to buy all shares for $1.15 a share.
MotherNature shares closed up 1/16 at 5/8 on Nasdaq.
Online pet supply store Pets.com Inc. (NasdaqNM:IPET - news) said on Tuesday it was shutting
down, citing an inability to find a purchaser or financial backer. WebHouse Club, the
gas-and-groceries licensee of offer-your-own price Priceline.com Inc. (NasdaqNM:PCLN -
news) in October said it was shutting down. |
