GoFish Cancels The Acquisition of Bolt.com

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 2, 2007

I’ve just received an email confirmation from Levine Communications Office, a PR firm in Los Angeles, that GoFish Corporation is officially canceling their plans to acquire Bolt Media.

GoFish had only agreed to acquire Bolt under the conditions that there would be a finalized definitive settlement with their lawsuit filed against them by UMG Recordings Inc. and other potential claims. Definitive agreements have not been made according to the press release I received.

“After concerted efforts to reach a viable economic settlement with the music industry, we concluded that Bolt’s potential liabilities would be too difficult for GoFish to absorb at this time. While we have determined that this merger no longer makes strategic sense for GoFish, we will continue to weigh business opportunities based on their ability to deliver meaningful returns for our shareholders,” stated Tabreez Verjee, the President of GoFish.

The deal would have been worth $30 million. And Bolt.com was given until July 30th to fulfill the obligation otherwise GoFish would have the power to terminate the deal. According to PaidContent, the UMG settlement was estimated to be worth $10 million.

“GoFish remains firmly focused on delivering the most compelling, original video content on the Internet,” stated Michael Downing, the CEO of GoFish. “As part of our strategy to expand the GoFish Network, we continue to explore revenue generating opportunities through partnerships, mergers and acquisitions.”

As more details emerge, I’ll keep updating this post.

[Source: paidContent]