Bidding starts for First Tuesday
Talks have started between the franchise owners of ailing Internet incubator First Tuesday and its Israeli parent company Yazam. They have until Jan. 23 to buy the dotcom networking organization before negotiations with other parties begin, a source with the company said last week.
Steven Carlson is the franchise owner of First Tuesday Budapest and one of a group of 10 organizers elected by other city network members to represent their interests in a possible buyout. Carlson said his group was holding discussions with Yazam, but no offer had yet been made.
Yazam, which purchased First Tuesday in a $50 million cash and stock deal last July, held a conference call with the group's franchise owners last week to invite cash-only bids for the networking company, Carlson said. After Tuesday, Yazam will be free to hold talks with any possible buyers, although First Tuesday can still make an offer, he added.
Yazam, an investment firm and incubator that provides funds for Internet start-ups, put London-based First Tuesday International up for sale after its board members met last Monday to determine the parent company's fate. Yazam's investors had been pressuring company officials to cease operations or drastically cut costs so they could recoup some of the millions of dollars invested.
"The board decided to institute immediate cost reductions, while it continues to examine all strategic options for the business," the company said.
Carlson refused to comment on the amount First Tuesday's organizers might offer, but said they would raise the funds themselves or seek outside investors.
