RUMOR MILL
Monday, August 21, 2000
KOZMO.COM DELAYS IPO
"Unfavorable Market Conditions" Becomes The Web Equivalent Of "Creative Differences"
Webnoize reports online delivery service Kozmo.com has withdrawn plans for an initial public stock offering through which it had hoped to raise as much as $150 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Kozmo delivers music, videos, food and other products within an hour of purchase online to consumers in 11 U.S. cities, including Boston, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
The company cited unfavorable market conditions as the reason for withdrawing the IPO, which was filed in March. The company plans to delay the IPO until early next year and said it will lay off between 30 and 40 of its New York-based staffers.
Last week, Kozmo laid off 275 dispatchers, deliverers and warehouse workers in Los Angeles and New York. "I guess its back to Pink Dot or Domino's," a former Kozmo driver said. "People are use to having their food delivered."
