Dot-Com Closure Tally Suggests Shake-Out Almost Over

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The number of Internet companies closing up shop fell slightly in August from July -- the fourth straight monthly decline -- hinting the worst may be over for the beaten down dot-com industry, though there may be a rise in shutdowns in the near-term as companies and investors start year-end housecleaning, a report on Thursday said.

Internet shutdowns totaled 38 in August, a ``relatively modest'' number and down from 39 in July, according to the report by San Francisco-based Webmergers.com.

According to Webmergers there were 60 shutdowns in June and in May the closure list hit 61, which was the highest number of any month since January 2000.

The August shutdowns raise the death-tally of Internet companies to 417 since the start of the year and to 642 since the beginning of 2000, Webmergers.com, an online hub for buying and selling Internet properties, said.

The company said that based on a conservative estimate of between 7,000 and 10,000 Internet companies with some formal funding from venture capitalists, angel investors or other investors, the ``dot-com death toll'' now has claimed between 6 percent and 9 percent of Internet companies.

According to Webmergers.com's report, ``August's numbers clearly underscore the fact the Internet shutdowns are moving into infrastructure and services sectors that serve business customers -- and away from consumer content and e-commerce properties.''

``Nearly 80 percent of the August shutdowns involved companies that address a business or general (both business and consumer) audience,'' the report said. ``If we by comparison look at all 642 shutdowns to date, only 45 percent address business and general audiences.''

Noteworthy Internet shutdowns in August included DSL provider Covad Communications Group Inc. (COVD.OB), wireless ISP Metricom Inc.(Nasdaq:MCOMQ - news), construction industry B2B company BuildNet Inc. and two providers of Web currency, Flooz.com and Beenz.com, Webmergers.com said.

-- Anonymous, August 30, 2001