The Australian Stock exchange was today advised that Reeltime Infotainment, the operating subsidiary of Reeltime Media has been placed into Voluntary Administration. As many here would be aware, back in September 2007, Reeltime made a formal offer to purchase this domain and website, and at the time, my decision to sell was met with mixed reactions.
The "sale" process itself was a bumpy ride from the outset, and as a result of non-conformance by Reeltime, on 30th November I was left with no choice but to issue them with with a default notice, only to be advised that their MD had resigned and that his replacement was to be announced shortly. Prior to his official appointment, I had the opportunity to speak with the incoming MD in a final attempt to get the sale process back on track. He organised the issue of the first part of the share allocation just before Christmas, however, as many here would know, the agreement also called for the issue of an additional 6,000,000 share options to complete the sale.
During the entire process, I refused to relinquish control of the domain, the website code or the database until the transaction had been completed. Unfortunately, by the time I finally received the ordinary shares, their value had dropped so significantly that I was never afforded the opportunity of realising anything even approaching the agreed sell price.
Christmas came and went and the share price continued to fall leaving me with "that sinking feeling", but I was cautiously optimistic that at sometime in the not too distant future, things would improve.
On the 25th January this year, I was advised that the ASX had been instructed to call a trading halt on Reeltime shares pending an announcement by the company. Clearly this did not bode well and forced me to reassess my position. After apprpriate consultation, on the 5th of February 2008, I issued Reeltime with a final and irrevocable notice of default, advising that I was exercising my rights under the agreement to terminate all further dealings with them and cancelling the sale due the conditions of the contract not being completed. I removed all links to their website and reverted this site to its pre-agreement condition.
So where does that leave the site in terms of it's ability to pay the bills? Well I don't intend to resurrect the Donations/Sponsorship system, however the costs are still there and will need to be covered. I am currently in negotiation to secure interim funding which if successful will keep the wolf from the door for a little while until I can organise an ongoing revenue stream from corporate advertising.
So there we have it folks, back to square one, my bank account is still empty, however, I can't claim to feel broken hearted.
Mike
Re: Reeltime Infotainment Appoints Voluntary Administrator
