April takes heavy toll on dot-coms

Bloomberg News Service

SAN FRANCISCO — Dot-com companies continued to close at a pace of more than two every business day in April, with 55 ceasing operations worldwide, just short of the record 58 that closed in February, according to a new report.

Another 115 firms were bought for $2.6 billion, said San Francisco-based Webmergers.com, a research and advisory firm. In 16 months, 435 dot-coms have closed — 211 of them in the past four months, the company said.

"April's toll dampened hopes that the dot-com carnage is slowing," Tim Miller, Webmergers.com's president, said in a release. "Although e-commerce-related companies still account for nearly half of all shutdowns to date, the Internet shakeout is beginning to infect new sectors such as Internet consulting and Internet access."

In April, nine consultants and seven access providers closed. April casualties included Imotors.com, an online used auto retailer backed by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen; Kozmo.com Inc., a Web-based food and video delivery service in New York; MarchFirst Inc., an Internet consulting company, and Quokka Sports Inc., an online sports broadcast site.

The average acquisition in April was valued at $22.6 million, down from $34.1 million in the first three months of the year.