"[Interplay] CEO Pleased With Turnaround Progress"

[Dan_Wood]

<strong>[ -> N/A]</strong>

Everyone's favorite game distribution company gathered the collective head of knuckle they call their stockholders (*cough* Herve and his brother Cletus) and had themselves a good old fashioned backpatting.


From <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021010/deth ... tml">Yahoo Finance</a>:

<!-- BBCode Quote Start --><TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1><b>Quote:</b></font><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1 color="FFFFFF"><BLOCKQUOTE>

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interplay Entertainment Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: IPLY.OB - News) today held its Annual Meeting of Stockholders in Newport Beach, Calif. Stockholders were invited to vote on three proposals: election of the current slate of directors to the Board for another year, a proposal to increase from 4 million to 10 million the number of shares of common stock that may be issued under the Company's 1997 Stock Incentive Plan, and a proposal to effect a 10-for-1 reverse stock split of the Company's common stock. The stockholders approved all of management's proposals.</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR></TD></TR></TABLE><!-- BBCode Quote End -->


Of paramount interest is that "proposal to increase from 4 million to 10 million the number of shares of common stock" section. Apparently it's part of a stock <!-- BBCode Start --><B>option</B><!-- BBCode End --> scenario. Which means that if IPLY goes up, people who work for the company (or those who play executive roles) get a total of six million common-market stocks to play with. Neat, assuming that the stock goes back up and eventually is worth something.


What confuses me is the "proposal to effect a 10-for-1 reverse stock split of the Company's common stock" which follows it.


Let's do the math:


You start with four million.


Give everyone who works for the company about six million in stock options.


Reduce the number of common stocks to one million.


The article goes on to report Herve's golden words of inspiration. You should REALLY take a look at <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/021010/deth ... tml">it</a>.

[DarkUnderlord]

"We believe there is genuine opportunity for a company that owns and produces superb content, without the high costs of sales, inventory or distribution associated with a 'pure publisher' model. Therefore, our plan going forward is built around content, execution, and profitability, as opposed to pure revenue growth at any cost."
- Interplay CEO Herve Caen

He's right you know. He just doesn't realise that Interplay may not quite fit that category of companies producing superb content.

"as opposed to pure revenue growth at any cost"

That bit is just funny.

[Rosh]

So...a 10-1 reverse split. Hey, can I call that or what? I earlier said about four reverse splits.

This "turnaround" buisiness is a laugh for the most part.

"I also want to provide a report on the Special Committee the Board voted to form this summer. The Committee will explore strategic options for the future, which might include a capital infusion or possible sale of the entire Company. You should know that no timetable for the committee has yet been set, and that, while additional strategic actions might be necessary for the Company to execute its long-term growth plan, the Company is not in need of immediate cash in order to continue operations.

Another capital infusion? So that means you're selling off Digital Mayhem and putting BIS into slave labor on more D&D games?

At this point, I doubt you could find someone interested in IPLY...at least at the price they might be thinking.