Boo.com on brink of calling in receivers

CampaignLive 17-May-00

Boo.com, the online urban sports store, is understood to be on the brink of failure as attempts to raise an extra $45 million (£30 million) from investors come to nothing.

Investors look to be unwilling to pour more money into Boo which raised $179 million (£120 million) at launch. If the cash does not come by the end of the day the receivers are likely to be called in and the company sold off.

Boo.com's main backers include Goldman Sachs, Benetton and Bernard Arnault, who heads French luxury clothing group LVMH. According to reports on Reuters this morning, Groupe Arnault, the holding company of Bernard Arnault, declined to comment on whether it would pump more funds into the online retailer.

The company has suffered a string of departures and redundancies and has been forced to discount many of its products in order to clear unsold stock.

Boo was not returning calls and its public relations firm Modus was referring all calls to the client.