Geldof reaps dotcom boom

March 26, 2001
Web posted at: 1225 GMT

LONDON (CNN) -- Irish rock star Bob Geldof has become a rare winner in the midst of the dot.com crash by selling his Web site for up to 9 million pounds.

World Travel Holdings said on Monday it bought the Deckchair.com travel business founded by Live Aid organiser Geldof for an initial £3.2 million ($4.6 million), with another £6 million linked to future performance.

"The deal could never have happened in the recent crazy market," said Geldof. "But in a collapsing market, whole new opportunities present themselves for lean and nimble operators like us."

Dotcom companies are trading at a fraction of their highs hit last year, after investors lost their taste for Internet shares.

Deckchair, which is not listed, has 250,000 registered users and World Travel has 85,000 and the combination of the two is expected to reduce the timescale for reaching profitability, a statement said.

There will be a prominent role in the company for Geldof, famous for his mid-1970s music career with the Boomtown Rats and for mobilizing the world's biggest bands in the 1980s to help starving people in Africa through the Live Aid 1985 concert and the Band Aid charity.

Under the agreement, the Deckchair brand will be retained and Geldof and two of his executives will join the board of World Travel Holdings, a statement said.

Deckchair's initial payments will be in World Travel shares, loan notes and options, with further performance payments possible over the next three years.

Reporting results on Monday, World Travel said its losses for the year to December 31 widened to £6.85 million compared with a loss of £1.97 million in 1999.

World Travel (WTL) shares rose 2.7 percent in London on Monday to 19 pence.

Deckchair
World Travel

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