Friday, March 26, 1999
Money News
Bid.Com stock blows through new highs
TORONTO, March 26 (Reuters) - Shares of online auctioneer Bid.Com International Inc. skyrocketed on Friday, punching through new highs with a helping hand from U.S. investors, Chief Executive Paul Godin said.
Bid.Com, which auctions items as diverse as computers and collectible stuffed Beanie Babies on the Internet, soared C$4.05, or nearly one-third of its opening value, to C$16.90 near midday after earlier punching through C$17.60, a 52-week high. It had traded as low as C$0.56 in the last 12 months.
Trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange was fast and furious at more than eight million shares, a fifth of its float of about 40 million shares.
"We spent late into the night and early this morning talking to a lot of people south of the border and there's tremendous interest. Looks like a lot of U.S. buying," Godin told Reuters.
The company was mentioned in some major U.S. newspapers recently, Godin said.
One analyst, who declined to be identified, said: "I think it's a speculation frenzy."
Godin said the market was "rife with rumors but we're not going to comment."
"There's no change in our scenario since the last time you and I talked," Godin noted, alluding to his denial on Thursday that bigger U.S. rival eBay Inc. was poised to take Bid.Com over.
Adam Adamou, analyst at Taurus Capital, said it was unlikely that Bid.Com was in another e-commerce company's sights. "I don't believe they would be a target for a buyer," Adamou said. "But who knows."
Godin added that the market should "watch for more announcements next week. Some very good stuff is coming."
"Getting to Nasdaq and doing the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and registering all of the issued and outstanding shares on behalf of all of our existing shareholders is a big job," Godin said. "But we're almost there."
The company has said it plans to list on the closely watched U.S. exchange, but will not issue new shares. It is registering all current issued and outstanding shares which stand at 51 million, fully diluted.
($1=$1.51 Canadian)
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