Quepasa.com Inc., a struggling Web site targeted toward U.S. Hispanics,
Wednesday revealed that it will liquidate its businesses and sell off its
assets.
The portal — which lagged behind competitors AOL and Yahoo! in enticing
its target audience — has shown signs of strain for several months.
“After carefully evaluating every option to maximize shareholder value
over the past nine months, our Board of Directors has determined that
liquidation following the sale of our assets is the best way to maximize
value and provide liquidity to our shareholders,” said Gary L. Trujillo,
chairman and CEO.
In mid-November the company announced third-quarter losses of $7.9
million on revenues of $1.0 million and reduced two-thirds of its
workforce. To make matters worse, the company received a de-listing notice
from Nasdaq for its inability to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 over
a 30-day period.
During the liquidation process, Quepasa.com will further cut jobs but
continue to operate its Quepasa.com Web site and three subsidiary sites,
RealEstateEspanol.com, Etrato.com and Credito.com, according to a statement
released by the company.
Company officials were not immediately available for comment to provide
detailed information.
According to the statement, Quepasa.com will take a one-time restructuring
charge of about $880,000 in the current fourth quarter for its workforce
reductions in the quarter.
The liquidation plan is subject to shareholder approval. A shareholder
meeting is expected be held in three to four months.