UBid

Last updated

uBid.com
Company type Private
Industry Online auction and fixed-price merchandise
Founded Chicago, Illinois, USA (1997)
Headquarters
United States  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Key people
Bob Geras, Chairman
Ketan Thakker, CEO/CFO
ProductsConsumer merchandise including electronics, computers, jewelry, fine art, housewares, computer accessories, and computers
Website www.ubid.com

uBid.com was an online auction style and fixed-price shopping website offering goods sold directly by the company and items sold by pre-approved third-party merchants. The site specialized in excess new, refurbished, and overstock consumer electronics such as computers, electronics, home goods, jewelry, watches, and cellular phones.

Contents

History

uBid.com was formed and launched in 1997, originally as a subsidiary of PC Mall. In December 1998, during the dot-com bubble, the company became a public company via an initial public offering, and achieved a market capitalization of over $1.8 billion at one point. After pricing at $15/share, the stock price reached $67 per share on its first day of trading. [1] [2] The company officially spun off from PC Mall with its co-founding management team in 1999. Ownership has changed multiple times over the years. [3] [4] [5] In 2000, CMGI (now Steel Connect) acquired uBid in a stock transaction. [6] In June 2001, the company reached an agreement to feature its listings on Yahoo! Auctions. [7] In November 2002, the company laid off 52 employees. [8] In 2003, CMGI sold uBid to Takumi Interactive, owned by Tom Petters and Petters Group Worldwide. [9] In 2006, the company acquired the assets of Bidville.com. [10]

In 2010 the company underwent an involuntary bankruptcy petition. [11] In October 2018, the company merged with Incumaker and in February 2019, the company changed its name to uBid Holdings, Inc. In 2020, the company began rebranding itself as a restaurant and entertainment digital coupon company after purchasing Restaurant.com and was renamed to RDE, Inc. [12] As of 2022, the uBid website had been taken offline.

Notes

  1. "uBid IPO soars four-fold". CNN . December 4, 1998.
  2. "Shares of uBid More Than Triple In Latest Successful Internet IPO" . The Wall Street Journal . December 4, 1998.
  3. "CMGI To Acquire uBid.com" . Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  4. "Takumi Interactive, Inc. Purchases uBid Business" . Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  5. "Pink-Slip Monday for Ecommerce with uBid, eBay Layoffs" . Retrieved 2009-12-30.
  6. "CMGI Agrees to Buy uBid In $407 Million Stock Deal" . The Wall Street Journal . February 10, 2000.
  7. "uBid to sell on Yahoo! Auctions". American City Business Journals . June 20, 2001.
  8. "STATE OF ILLINOIS MONTHLY WARN ACTIVITY LISTING" (PDF). November 2002.
  9. Brown, Rodney (March 31, 2003). "CMGI sells uBid to Minnesota company". American City Business Journals .
  10. "uBid.com Holdings, Inc. Acquires Auction Assets of Bidville, Inc" (Press release). Globe Newswire. July 27, 2006.
  11. "uBid Auction Site's Parent Enable Holdings Forced into Bankruptcy" . Retrieved 2011-08-03.
  12. staff (December 8, 2020). "uBid Holdings Changed Name to RDE, Inc. to Better Reflect its Focus". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 15 March 2022.

Related Research Articles

An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment banks, who also arrange for the shares to be listed on one or more stock exchanges. Through this process, colloquially known as floating, or going public, a privately held company is transformed into a public company. Initial public offerings can be used to raise new equity capital for companies, to monetize the investments of private shareholders such as company founders or private equity investors, and to enable easy trading of existing holdings or future capital raising by becoming publicly traded.

Midway Games Inc. was an American video game company that existed from 1958 to 2010. Midway's franchises included Mortal Kombat, Rampage, Spy Hunter, NBA Jam, Cruis'n and NFL Blitz. Midway also acquired the rights to video games that were originally developed by WMS Industries and Atari Games, such as Defender, Joust, Robotron: 2084, Gauntlet and the Rush series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bed Bath & Beyond</span> Former American houseware big-box retailer (1971–2023)

Bed Bath & Beyond was an American big-box retail chain specializing in housewares, furniture, and specialty items. Headquartered in Union, New Jersey, the chain operated stores in the United States and Canada, and was once counted among the Fortune 500 and the Forbes Global 2000. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2023 and liquidated all of its remaining stores, with the last closing on July 30, 2023. Following the retail chain's liquidation, its name was adopted by online retailer Overstock.com, which acquired the company's trademarks in a bankruptcy auction. The name is also still used by the chain's former Mexican division which is now independent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Circuit City</span> Consumer electronics retailer

Circuit City Corporation, Inc., formerly Circuit City Stores, Inc., is an American consumer electronics retail company, which was founded in 1949 by Samuel Wurtzel as the Wards Company, operated stores across the United States, and pioneered the electronics superstore format in the 1970s. After multiple purchases and a successful run on the NYSE, it changed its name to Circuit City Stores Inc.

Chemdex Corporation, later known as Ventro Corporation and then NexPrise, Inc., was a B2B e-commerce company that first operated an online marketplace for products related to the life sciences industry such as laboratory chemicals, enzymes, and equipment, but later expanded into a few other industries. It was notable for its $7 billion market capitalization during the dot-com bubble despite minimal revenues.

Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) was a large American conglomerate which existed from 1961 to 2001. At its peak, it was involved in aerospace, airlines, electronics, steel manufacturing, sporting goods, meat packing, car rentals, and pharmaceuticals, among other businesses.

Commerce One, Inc. operated online auctions focused on B2B e-commerce. At the peak of the dot-com bubble, the company had a market capitalization of $21.5 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports Authority</span> Defunct American sporting goods retailer

Sports Authority, Inc. was an American sports retailer based in Englewood, Colorado. At its peak, Sports Authority operated 463 stores in 45 States and Puerto Rico. The company's website was on the GSI Commerce platform and supported the retail stores as well as other multi-channel programs. A joint venture with ÆON Co., Ltd., operates "Sports Authority" stores in Japan under a licensing agreement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Divine, Inc.</span>

Divine, Inc., originally Divine Interventures, was a company that invested in internet companies during the dot-com bubble. The company was originally modeled after CMGI but changed its business plan after the bubble burst.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel Connect</span> American software company

Steel Connect, Inc. is an American company that provides supply chain management services to software companies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celadon Group</span> Former American truckload shipping company

Celadon Group, Inc. was a truckload shipping company located in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was one of the ten largest truckload carriers in North America and at its peak operated 4,000 trucks and owned an additional 11,000 trucks through Quality Equipment, its leasing division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franchise Group</span> American holding company

Franchise Group, Inc. is an American privately-held holding company that acquires and manages mainly franchise companies. It owns brands in various retail industries including American Freight, Buddy's Home Furnishings, The Vitamin Shoppe, and Pet Supplies Plus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">G.I. Joe's</span>

G.I. Joe's was a privately owned retail chain for sporting goods, ready-to-wear clothing, and auto parts; that operated stores in the Pacific Northwest region of the northwestern United States.

SunEdison, Inc. is a renewable energy company headquartered in the U.S. In addition to developing, building, owning, and operating solar power plants and wind energy plants, it also manufactures high-purity polysilicon, monocrystalline silicon ingots, silicon wafers, solar modules, solar energy systems, and solar module racking systems. Originally a silicon-wafer manufacturer established in 1959 as the Monsanto Electronic Materials Company, the company was sold by Monsanto in 1989.

A stalking horse offer, agreement, or bid is a bid for a bankrupt firm or its assets that is arranged in advance of an auction to act, in effect, as a reserve bid. The intent is to maximize the value of its assets or avoid low bids, as part of a court auction.

The 2009 General Motors Chapter 11 sale of the assets of automobile manufacturer General Motors and some of its subsidiaries was implemented through Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code in the United States bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York. The United States government-endorsed sale enabled the NGMCO Inc. to purchase the continuing operational assets of the old GM. Normal operations, including employee compensation, warranties, and other customer services were uninterrupted during the bankruptcy proceedings. Operations outside of the United States were not included in the court filing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motors Liquidation Company</span> American automotive company

Motors Liquidation Company (MLC), formerly General Motors Corporation, was the company left to settle past liability claims from Chapter 11 reorganization of American car manufacturer General Motors. It exited bankruptcy on March 31, 2011, only to be carved into four trusts; the first to settle the claims of unsecured creditors, the second to handle environmental response for MLC's remaining assets, a third to handle present and future asbestos-related claims, and a fourth for litigation claims.

Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-largest retailing company in the United States in 2015. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018, and sold its assets to ESL Investments in 2019. The new owner moved Sears assets to its newly formed subsidiary Transformco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liquidity Services</span> E-commerce marketplace operator

Liquidity Services (NASDAQ:LQDT) operates a network of e-commerce marketplaces.