COLUMBUS, OHIO – At their January 16 meeting, the GoAntiques, Inc board of directors elected Dale E. Schexnayder as chief executive officer of the corporation. Schexnayder served as chief financial officer for the company since October 2001.
Jim Kamnikar, former vice president of sales for Antique Networking, Inc, was elected president of the company. Kamnikar most recently served as senior vice president of business development for GoAntiques. Ken Buhler, former president and CEO, left the company to pursue other interests.
In addition, the company also announced that it, along with its subsidiary, has voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The company intends to utilize the Chapter 11 process to reconstruct its balance sheet, while continuing to provide service to members and users.
“GoAntiques remains focused on the same goals that we have had since inception – providing our sellers with quality service and high visibility of their inventory, and with providing buyers the best possible art, antiques and collectibles selection online,” commented Kamnikar.
He added, “We need to stabilize our financial foundation and continue quality service to our customers. After careful consideration, we determined that the restructuring of our debt through the Chapter 11 process is the optimal solution for helping GoAntiques resolve the issues facing the company. The process will allow us to emerge with a new capital structure and position us to maintain the fundamental strengths of the company.”
Stamford Venture Capital Holdings, Inc, GoAntiques’ lead investor, has committed post-petition financing. “Stamford’s funding will allow GoAntiques to continue to grow and achieve our goals,” said Kamnikar. “Inventory sales were up more than 300 percent in 2002 over 2001; we are now able to focus on continuing our growth plans unimpeded.”
GoAntiques, Inc. features the inventories of art, antiques and collectibles dealers, malls and galleries. Its distribution network includes Yahoo! Shopping and AOL Shopping. A privately held company, the firm has its principal office in Columbus, Ohio.
For information, 614-481-5750.
