StockPhotoTalk | Special Interest Blog

[Update] QuickLinks For 2009-01-16

• Buyers of a21 subsidiaries to be decided Friday:
  A21 Inc. should be able to finalize agreements to sell its two major subsidiaries on Friday. But the identity of the buyers is still up in the air.
  Masterfile agreed to buy SuperStock’s assets for $1.5 million at the time of the bankruptcy filing. But since then, RGB Ventures, a new company formed by three existing photography-related companies, has offered a bid of $1.75 million, said Davis, an attorney representing a21 in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
  Onstream Media had asked the court to extend the deadline for SuperStock and said in court filings that it was negotiating to buy a21 before the bankruptcy filing. But Onstream said Wednesday it has decided to withdraw its bid.
  Jacksonville.com.

[Update]:
a21 is selling SuperStock to RGB Venture Partners [RubberBall, Glow and Blend Images] for $2.825 million. RGB won the right to buy SuperStock after a bidding war with Masterfile. The major downside to the reorganization is that a21 shareholders will not get anything.

a21 files for bankruptcy

Gardner Davis, the attorney representing a21 in its Chapter 11 case, said it was the nation’s credit crunch that forced a21 into bankruptcy. A21 has been looking for a buyer, but potential purchasers had difficulty getting financing. “In a less chilling economic environment, this company would have never filed for bankruptcy.”

A21 has lost money every year since acquiring SuperStock, with a net loss of $2.6 million in the first nine months of the year. The company´s stock has been below $1 a share since 2004 and has been listed at less than a penny per share recently. SuperStock operated at a net loss of about $16,000 on revenue of $5.9 million in the first nine months of the year, and ArtSelect had a loss of $324,000 on revenue of $7 million. But corporate expenses made a21´s overall net loss higher.

(Florida Times-Union, compiled. More details here)