Former CEO buys Count Me In assets
Last December TechFlash's John Cook reported on a developing scandal involving Seattle's Count Me In and $100K in missing registration fees due to one of their customers, the Alaskan Nordic ski association. Later in the month Count Me In CEO Terry Drayton apologized and promised to find a resolution: "I am the founder. I am the CEO. It is my responsibility. It happened on my watch, and it is my job to fix it, full stop".
It turns out missing payments totalled $5 Million and over 200 non-profit and youth sports organizations were affected, ultimately forcing Count Me In to file for bankruptcy which included a court-led seizure of the business.
In a bizarre twist yesterday, federal bankruptcy judge Samuel Steiner approved the sale of the Count Me In assets for $200K to Rainier Software, an entity led by Drayton. Not surprisingly, the asset sale came over the objections of Count Me In creditors. Cook also reported yesterday that included in the objections was a strongly worded filing by rival bidder, The Active Network.
In court documents Tuesday, The Active Network -- which also operates an online registration system for sports leagues -- called the auction process "flawed" and questioned the integrity of the bankruptcy trustee.
"...Active objects to the sale both on the grounds that the sale was unfair and that the trustee improperly accepted a lower price than he would have received had the sale been conducted properly," the company wrote in the filing.
In a declaration, the registrar for the Murfreesboro Soccer Club -- one of the more than 200 sports clubs owed money -- said she was "deeply troubled" that the Active Network was being precluded from making what she believed was a higher bid for the assets.
Cook notes that after months of bankruptcy proceedings and litigation, Drayton may have a second chance to redeem himself and "fix it" - not sure if this asset purchase route would be described as "full stop" though.
