Source: Associated Press via Houston Chronicle and Seeking Alpha
NEW YORK (AP) Shares of PlanetOut Inc. sank to an all-time low Tuesday after the media company, which serves the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, said it was considering a possible sale of the company.
PlanetOut shares fell $1.37, or 22.1 percent, to close at $4.83. Earlier, the stock traded as low as $4.60 -- its lowest since a reverse stock split in early October.
For the first nine months of 2007, PlanetOut reported a loss of $33.1 million on revenues of $39.8 million.
Late Monday, the San Francisco-based company said it hired Allen & Co. to help review strategic options, including a possible sale. PlanetOut also said it will stop providing earnings guidance or hold quarterly earnings calls.
In a phone interview Tuesday, PlanetOut spokesman Kevin Nyland said the company is evaluating a possible sale "because we believe it may be in the best interest of our shareholders."
Nyland said he could not say if any companies have expressed interest in purchasing PlanetOut.
The media company, which operates the Web site Gay.com and publishes The Advocate and Out magazines and other titles, has had a tumultuous year.
In May, shares plunged after PlanetOut said its first-quarter loss widened on decreased sales and higher operating costs.
In July, shares sank again after the company said it needed to take a $24.9 million noncash impairment charge on its goodwill and other intangible assets. Also in July, PlanetOut said it would close offices in Buenos Aires and London to lower expenses.
Shares jumped, however, after the private investment vehicle of Microsoft Corp. chairman and co-founder Bill Gates reported ownership of 12.8 percent of the online media company's common stock in a regulatory filing that month.
The company reported in the filing that it had raised $26.2 million in equity financing from a group of investors that included Special Situations Funds, Cascade Investment LLC, SF Capital Partners, PAR Investment Partners LP, and Allen & Co.
And in October, PlanetOut enacted a 1-for-10 reverse stock split to buoy share prices.
PlanetOut also said it would sell its RSVP Vacations unit to Atlantis Events Inc. for an undisclosed amount that month. Both RSVP and Atlantis specialize in gay and lesbian cruises and vacations. PlanetOut said the sale helped it simplify its business model and make advertising revenue its core driver.
The company has experienced several personnel changes recently, too. In April, then-president and chief operating officer Jeffrey T. Soukup resigned, and in August the company said in a regulatory filing that its chief financial officer, Daniel J. Miller, was leaving.
Full article: PlanetOut Shares Fall to Record Low | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
PlanetOut Looking for Bail Out | Seeking Alpha