Highwired.com: Acquisition‪?‬

Having raised US$30 million in second-round financing just before the April 2000 technology stock market crash, Highwired.com (Highwired), an e-commerce startup with a goal to be "the last one standing" in its business of providing Web services to the high-school sector, had the resources to target a company for acquisition. The chief executive officer had identified four potential targets, but had just heard that Highwired's major competitors were also looking at these same targets. He estimated that Highwired had only three days in which to tender an offer. With only an overview of the targets' capabilities, he had to decide if he had enough information to make a decision to purchase. He did not want to miss the opportunity to purchase a company for a fraction of what it was worth 60 days before; however, if the acquisition turned bad, it could mean the end of the company.