World Online_s worries did not end when its much-hyped IPO tanked last week. Now that the Dutch Internet service provider_s share price has plummeted to the point that the company has lost nearly half of its value, bankers and regulatory agencies are
Published:
2 April 2000 y., Sunday
The troubled company_s CEO, Nina Brink, sold off two-thirds of her shares in December, just prior to the mid-March public offering. She did so by transferring the shares to an investment house, which dumped 1.2 million shares on the market in the first day of trading. Speaking with the international press before the offering, Brink had promised that her shares would not be sold.
The Amsterdam Exchanges, where the float took place, has said that it will look more closely at World Online_s IPO filings, but that it sees no reason to launch a full-blown inquiry.
Despite that vote of relative confidence, negative publicity has snowballed. The Amsterdam media has discovered a reliable source of headlines: employees who had invested in the company and then, on paper at least, lost a fortune.
The company had allowed each of its 1,500 employees to take out an interest-free loan, reportedly equivalent to their annual salary, to purchase shares in the ISP. Employees borrowed a total of nearly 22 million euros ($21 million) to buy some 500,000 shares.
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
European Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport, today presented to the College a preliminary assessment of the economic consequences for the air transport industry of the volcanic ash crisis.
more »
Boosting economic recovery, investing in Europe's youth and in tomorrow's infrastructures are the priorities of the 2011 draft budget adopted by the Commission on 27 April 2010.
more »
European Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia welcomes proposed commitments by Visa Europe to significantly cut its multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) for debit card payments.
more »
Because of the Icelandic volcano, flower growers in Colombia couldn't get their stems to markets in Europe.
more »
The Second Vice President of the Spanish government and Minister of Economy and Finance, Elena Salgado, on Sunday played down the importance of apparent fissures within the EU concerning the Greek financial crisis, expressing her confidence that all countries would support the aid package for this country, which will be accompanied by a tough budget-tightening plan.
more »
Commission launches an information campaign on the CE conformity mark - designed to ease the free movement of goods around Europe and protect consumers.
more »
If Europe's airports ever open again the introduction of new security measures like body scanners will be expensive.
more »
After Eurozone Finance Ministers agreed measures to address Greece’s financial woes last Sunday, MEPs quizzed leading economic figures, including the chairman of Goldman Sachs - former financial advisors to the Greek government - on how to strengthen EU economic governance and improve reporting of national statistics.
more »
The European Tourism Stakeholders Conference, being held in Madrid today and tomorrow, will explore ways and means to strengthen the visibility of tourism at a European level and to verify how the actions to promote a competitive EU tourism industry.
more »
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), World Bank Group member IFC, and The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) have joined up with the Asia Debt Management Hong Kong (ADM Capital) to establish a regional fund to invest in midsize companies facing financing difficulties as a result of the financial crisis.
more »