Internet Capital eine Größe zu erreichen, die einen IPO sinnvoll macht. Denn hier sind die Größenvorstellung erheblich gewachsen, da eine Börsennotierung in den USA wegen der Anforderungen in der Rechnungslegung ca. 2 Millionen pro Jahr an Kosten verursacht - weitgehend unabhängig von der Größe.
Channelintelligence hat daher Vcommerce gekauft, an denen Internet Capital auch mit 53% beteiligt war. Vcommerce hatte hervorragende Produkte und gute Kunden, benötigte aber für eine notwendige Expansion weiter Geld, das Channelintelligence offensichtlich hat und zudem ergeben sich enorme Synergieeffekte.
Fla. company buys tech business Vcommerce
by Jane Larson - Sept. 12, 2009 07:00 AM
The Arizona Republic .
A Scottsdale company that soared during the dot-com boom, then hit the skids and tried to bounce back, has been acquired by a fast-growing Florida rival.
Vcommerce Corp. sold its technology, brands and other assets to Channel Intelligence Inc. of Orlando, Fla., for an undisclosed sum.
Channel Intelligence, which announced the deal last week, said it has hired 25 of the Scottsdale firm's 35 employees and plans to set up a West Coast office here.
Whether it was signing up small stores, as it did in its early days, or the large retailers it later targeted, Vcommerce never seemed to get enough customers for its e-commerce software to be profitable, people familiar with the company said.
"The company had superb technology but could not scale to compete in today's economy," said Karen Greene, spokeswoman for Internet Capital Group Inc.
The Wayne, Pa., investment firm put $13 million into Vcommerce in 2006 and eventually gained a majority stake in the Scottsdale firm. It also owns a minority stake in Channel Intelligence.
Channel Intelligence has about 100 employees in Orlando and expects to increase the Arizona office to 50 employees next year, Chief Executive Officer Robert Wight said.
He said the deal will allow Channel Intelligence to expand its services to manufacturers and retailers. Some 100 manufacturers, including Mattel Inc. and Black & Decker Corp., are its customers, along with 100 retailers like Target Corp., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Saks Inc.
Channel Intelligence helps manufacturers promote their products through search engines and online advertising, he said. When consumers go to a manufacturer's Web site, Channel Intelligence helps pass them on to a retailer's site, where the consumers can buy the product.
The Florida company does that successfully, but "what we really wanted to do was provide a full-service system," Wight said. Vcommerce's storefront, order management and fulfillment software closes the gap.
"The ability to take an order from one (company) and make sure it is fulfilled from another is very important to us," Wight said.
The Florida company had thought of building such software, he said. Instead, when Vcommerce came up for sale in an auction conducted by investment bank William Blair and Co., Channel Intelligence emerged as the successful bidder.
Vcommerce started as Vstore Corp. in 1998 and was one of the Valley's hottest start-ups during the dot-com era, when companies large and small began selling products online. It raised more than $62 million in venture capital over the next five years, but stumbled in its efforts to sell large, expensive installations of its software.
Founder Dan Kennedy bought out original investors in 2003 and re-launched Vcommerce in 2004 on a pay-as-you-go model. It attracted big-name customers including Target and Overstock.com, growing to more than 100 employees.
Internet Capital Group said this summer that Vcommerce needed more money to fund its operations.
Kennedy left the company last year but remained a shareholder, Greene said.