Internet group denies sellout
Internet networking group First Tuesday has denied reports that its Israeli parent company is about to wind down company operations, First Tuesday Warsaw, the local branch of the company, said last week. This followed several news reports that Jerusalem-based Yazam was under pressure from its investors to sell part or all of its operations.
Thom Barnhardt, president of financial Web site BiznesPolska and also holder of the operating license for First Tuesday Warsaw, said if Yazam stopped operations, the company's ownership would change. But he added that First Tuesday franchises would remain in the hands of their license holders.
Barnhardt said he had not been notified by Yazam or by First Tuesday's London headquarters that the parent company was discussing various options in light of investor pressure, and added that it would be a "far-flung conclusion" to say that the company would be liquidated.
Barnhardt, the co-founder and former president of New World Publishing, which owns the Warsaw Business Journal, said that if Yazam were sold, the First Tuesday license holders in the more than 100 cities where the group operates would be interested in buying the franchises.
Yazam, an unlisted investment firm that funds Internet and technology start-ups, was founded in July 1999 and purchased First Tuesday for $50 million in 2000.
Signs of financial trouble appeared last autumn with the departure of two high-level Yazam executives accompanying layoffs of employees in Israel and the United States. First Tuesday felt the sting as well with layoffs at its London headquarters and the closure of its San Francisco operations.
Reade Fahs, the London-based chief executive of First Tuesday, was not available for comment. No one at First Tuesday's public relations firm Gnash PR could be reached for comment.
News reports said that financial backers have called on Yazam to liquidate its operations or cut costs so they can recoup some of their investments. Yazam's board members will meet on Monday to discuss various options, the reports said. No one could be reached at Yazam's office in Jerusalem on Friday.
First Tuesday was founded in London in 1998. The Warsaw franchise started operations in November 1999 and draws an average of 500 Internet entrepreneurs, prospective investors and other interested parties to its meetings, which usually take place on the first Tuesday of every month. The networking group also holds meetings in Krakow and Poznan and will start operating in Gdansk in April.
First Tuesday Warsaw's revenue comes from sponsorship sales. Since the sponsorship money is spent on venue rental and catering services for the monthly meetings, the Warsaw franchise usually breaks even, Barnhardt said. He expects First Tuesday Warsaw to be profitable this year since the dotcom organization's brand name will be included in about 25 Internet conferences for industry professionals that will be held throughout Poland this year.
