A brief profile of the IVD-BTBC reverse merger:
Ivax Diagnostics, Inc. (IVD), a division of Ivax Corp., merged into the shell of b2bstores.com. The name of the company was changed to Ivax Diagnostics. The reverse merger was completed on March 21, 2001.
b2bstores.com (BTBC) was an Internet commerce company that went public on February 15, 2002, selling 4 million shares to the public at $8 per share. On November 21, 2000, the company announced that they were shutting down their operations and merging with Ivax. From an IPO to a shell in nine months.
The reverse merger closed on March 21, 2001, with the old shareholders of b2bstores.com retaining 8,621,643 shares (30.1%) of the new company. The shareholders of Ivax Diagnostics received 20,000,000 shares (69.9%) of the new company. B2bstores.com had been able to retain in excess of $22 million in cash from the proceeds of the IPO.
I have not been able to find specific historical quotes for BTBC, but according to an IVD 10-K the shares traded in a range of $1.50 to $3.63 in the two and a half months prior to the close of the merger. The closing price for the first day of trading for IVD, March 21, 2001, was $3.50.
Based on the March 21, 2001 stock price, the old shareholders of BTBC had stock with a value of approximately $30.2 million, a 35% premium from the cash value of the company.
Revenues for IVD will approximate $17 to $18 million for 2003. The company has had small losses.
A description of b2bstores.com from its prospectus:
sec.gov
b2bstores.com(TM) is an Internet web site specifically designed to assist business customers in the operation and development of their businesses. b2bstores.com provides user-friendly online access to business products and supplies, and will be expanded to provide access to business services, auctions and business-related information and content. Our objective is to become a leading, one-stop Internet destination that enables business customers to conduct e-commerce, communications and other online interaction with their customers, suppliers and colleagues.
A description of Ivax Diagnostics from its Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2002:
sec.gov
…we develop, manufacture, and market diagnostic test kits, or assays, that are used to aid in the detection of disease markers primarily in the areas of autoimmune and infectious diseases. These tests, which are designed to aid in the identification of the causes of illness and disease, assist physicians in selecting appropriate patient treatment. |
