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Preposterous Companies
By Tom
Dowe • Bankrate.com
The corporate landscape is littered with companies
that sound more like straight lines than profitable businesses.
From time to time, we'll will bring you information on such companies,
with the hope of making your day a little brighter. After all, you
may not pick a winning stock every time, but at least you didn't
pick these.
ArchivalCD Inc.
In one of the shortest IPO filings we've seen (filed
Dec. 22, 1999), ArchivalCD puts it plain and simple: our Salt Lake
City office was flooded in 1997, we didn't have enough insurance,
and we're still cleaning up. Nevertheless, the company -- which
reports its corporate address as Crockett, Texas, about 50 miles
north of Huntsville, where many a family tree comes to an abrupt
halt courtesy of the Texas Department of Corrections -- has filed
to raise $7.4 million, with proceeds to be used to reinvigorate
the company's moribund genealogical information-on-CD-ROM operations.
In a section titled "Management Team Limitations," the company acknowledges
that, "though strong in relation to the niche market and the processes
of ArchivalCD production," the company's five employees are collectively
"weak in financial acumen." Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Corporate Vision
Inc. (OTCBB: CVIA) has
agreed to underwrite ArchivalCD's initial public offering in return
for a 15 percent stake in the company. In addition to owning half
the company, CEO Daniel Hay holds both an MBA and a doctorate in
divinity.
Ave. A Corporation
For those who made a New Year's resolution to walk
the straight and narrow, Ave. A Corporations's IPO filing (dated
Jan.1, 2000) proposes a potentially enjoyable means to get clean
and sober. The company (not to be confused with Web advertiser Avenue
A Inc., which is also going public) has a business model sure to
stay afloat during in the current choppy market. Its primary operation,
SeaHab, plans to offer oceangoing drug and alcohol rehabilitation
services aboard a luxury yacht (to be rented from one of the company's
directors) in the Caribbean. SeaHab's "recreational therapy," as
the filing calls it, is undertaken by a medical staff that includes
Frank Clayman-Cook, a clinical psychologist who also happens to
be the former drummer for legendary white blues band Canned Heat.
Ave. A Corp. is also making plans to offer streaming video over
the Web; although it has not commenced Internet operations, the
company nevertheless listed as the SIC code on its IPO filing the
number 7812, "Motion Picture and Video Tape Production."
Biocontrol Technology Inc.
Well-known to penny-stock watchers, this OTC issue
has made news once again with the announcement that, per the approval
of shareholders at a meeting held on February 7th, it is increasing
its share base to 1.7 billion shares. (For comparison, note that
Bank of America has 1.7 billion shares outstanding.) Biocontrol
Technology's primary product is a needle-less glucose monitor for
diabetics; although few have been sold (the company is approved
to market the product in the European Union, but not in the U.S.),
the company nevertheless compensates its CEO, Fred Cooper, very
well. Cooper's salary was reported in a recent federal filing at
more than $900,000 (Biocontrol's 1998 sales were $1.4 million);
in addition, the company recently gave him a $150,000 loan so that
he could launch a sports and sports trading-card Web site, B-A-Champ.com.
-- Posted: Feb. 10, 2000
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