IP: 500 dot-coms down, 10,000 more to go... or not

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "Janos Gereben" <janos451 () earthlink net>
> To: "jg" <janos451 () earthlink net>
> Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 12:40:38 -0700
> \Internet-company shutdown rate levels off
>
> Janos Gereben - www.the451.com
>
>
>
> [Mergers are up in the industry where nearly 500 of the larger
> firms perished in recent months - leaving up to 10,000 still in
> place.]
>
> A new report on the US dot-com meltdown contradicts the two
> fashionable theories on the subject. The figures don't back up
> interpretations that the `bottom has been reached' or that the
> situation is getting increasingly worse. What Webmergers - a San
> Francisco research company specializing in the fortunes of the
> online industry - found in national figures for May is that
> closures have leveled off.
>
> There were 54 US Internet companies shutting down in May, one less
> than in April. On the other hand, money spent on mergers and
> acquisitions is still increasing: buyers spent over $3bn to
> acquire 110 online companies in May, against $2.6bn for 115
> acquisitions in April.
>
> The May shutdown figure, while not setting a new US record, is
> rather grim, a tie with January for the third worst month since
> the industry went into a dive in January, 2000. The total
> worldwide toll for the 16-month period, according to Webmergers,
> is 493 `substantial' Internet companies, over half of them failing
> in the first five months of 2001. E-commerce companies make up the
> bulk of failed Internet firms, but the shakeout has spread to
> consulting firms and providers of DSL and other service providers.
> Those conducting the ongoing survey observed that after numerous
> failures of e-tailers, the current soft spot is in the
> infrastructure, software and hosting services sectors.
>
> When it comes to what Webmergers considers `substantial' Internet
> companies (those which went public or received major funding from
> investors), the survey firm estimates that there are close to
> 10,000 still in business worldwide, the majority in the US.
>
> Webmergers noted the emergence of new "financing and advisory
> hybrids" formed to assist struggling Internet companies and their
> investors or would-be funders. One kind of such"intensive care uni
> t" company is rising from the ashes of bankrupt consulting firms
> such as Viant; others are formed by professionals from buyout and
> restructuring specialists, IT and management consultants.
>
>
>
> ================
> Janos Gereben/SF, CA
> janos451 () earthlink net



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