Arete announces restructuring
By Deborah J. Myers
For the Camera
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In Greek, Arete means "excellence."
That's just the kind of new business opportunity Arete Industries needs to revive.
The company announced Thursday that it is in the midst of a major restructuring to reduce overhead, eliminate debt and attract acquisition candidates by becoming listed on the NASDAQ Small Cap Market.
In a news release, CEO Thomas Raabe said that dismal sales, a stagnant economy and "a shift in funding criteria for professional investors, 'angels' and venture capital firms" were the reasons for the company overhaul.
Some of the changes at Arete Industries, which trades on the OTC Bulletin Board as AREE, will include ending funding for three of the company's arms: Arete Outdoors, Applied Behavior Systems and Seventh Generation Technologies.
Arete Outdoors develops cutting-edge adventure sports products, such as Mike Lowe's Snow Fangs, which allow climbers to ascend sheets of ice.
Applied Behavior Systems and Seventh Generation Technologies are on the tech side of futuristic. One Seventh Generation development, for example, is a robot that would understand verbal commands and properly respond to them.
"We believe our plan will give the current shareholders an opportunity to continue to participate in businesses that they have supported over the last few months," Raabe said, "and will free resources at the company to pursue its new direction."
Arete has erased much of its overhead via layoffs and by closing Arete Outdoors, Applied Behavior Systems, and Seventh Generation Technologies.
The company is also hammering out payment plans to eliminate its debt to vendors and tax officials.
Raabe hopes that these steps will enable the company to re-establish financial stability so that the company may be listed on the Nasdaq Small Cap Market.
Company officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.
July 13, 2001
