Remember the old Sunbeam commercial when the satisfied customer said he liked the products so much that he bought the company?
The chief exexutive officer of a Charlotte company has a similar idea – and is putting his own home on the line.
Information Architect Corp. (Nasdaq: IARC), a developer of applications for information technology workers, announced Monday that CEO Robert Gruder has filed a securities purchase agreement with the firm to buy 3 million shares of IARC.
In a prepared statement, Gruder said the purchase demonstrates his commitment to Information Architect’s success, and that he has taken out a new mortgage on his home in order to raise funds for the purchase.
The company said it has been trying to raise new capital for several months but the downtrodden economy has kept potential investors from committing. The statement also refered to an individual who invested $100,000 in the firm, but company officials declined to provide further details of the transaction.
The purchase agreement called for Gruder to buy $600,000 worth of IARC in exchange for common stock at the market-close price on Aug. 16, which was 20 cents per share.
It’s been a rocky year for IARC. Through second quarter 2002 company revenues nose-dived 96 percent to $48,000 while net losses increased 32 percent to $8.3 million. The company is being de-listed from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market exchange at the opening of business on Aug. 22 if it continues to remain out of compliance with several Nasdaq standards, including share price.
Shares of IARC ranged in price from 19 cents to $7 during the last 52 weeks. IARC last traded above $1 on May 13. The company’s market capitalization is $1.31 million.
Information Architect:
