<nettime> Etoys to file for bankruptcy and shut down web site

["Felipe Rodriquez" <felipe@xs4all.nl>]

Source Bloomberg

EToys to File for Bankruptcy and Shut Down Web Site (Update1)

     Santa Monica, California, Feb. 26 (Bloomberg) -- EToys Inc., which
began last year as the largest Internet toy store, said it will file for
bankruptcy protection in the next five to 10 days because it has been
unable to find a buyer or more financing.

     The company will run out of cash by March 31 and is firing its
remaining employees, spokesman Gary Gerdemann said. The Internet retailer
will close its Web site on March 8. EToys said its shares have no value
and its stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq market.

     EToys, which has never had a profit, frantically sought new financing
or a merger partner in recent months because of disappointing holiday
sales and dwindling cash. The company hired Goldman, Sachs & Co. for
advice and since mid-January worked on payment options with a group of
unsecured creditors owed $110 million.

     ``We did not find a buyer for the company as a whole, and that brings
us to today,'' Gerdemann said. EToys is shutting down the site next week
so it can ship all orders before the company closes, he said.

     EToys said it will continue to seek buyers for its assets, including
its distribution centers in Virginia and California, proprietary programs
and technology, and content on its BabyCenter and ParentCenter advise
sites for parents.

     EToys had $274 million in outstanding debt at the end of January,
substantially more than the value of its assets, the company said. The
Chapter 11 bankruptcy will be filed in Delaware, Gerdemann said.

     Shares of Santa Monica, California-based EToys fell 3 cents to 9
cents before trading was halted pending news. They had fallen 99 percent
in the past year.

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