Dressmart.com has gone into administration with debts of £2m. The upmarket European clothes etailer is reported to be facing bankruptcy and its 60 staff the sack. A plan has been approved to sell much of Dressmart's business to fellow Swedish business New Wave. According to today's Times newspaper, New Wave could snap up the assets it is interested in - it wants its trading system but is not bothered about its Internet focus - for around £1m.
The King of Sweden and a former Swedish prime minister are both believed to have lost money from the venture.
(See also: Boxman cancels IPO, Dressmart ponders existence

Dixons chief exec John Clare made £1.1 million profit from sales of share options last year. He also got a total salary of £503,000, up 23 per cent on the previous year, according to the computer retailer's 1999-2000 annual report released yesterday.

Leeds Metropolitan University's School of Information Management is launching an MSc in E-Commerce. The course, which starts in September, aims to teach the uneducated masses on e-commerce strategy, electronic payment and transaction systems, e-marketing and the social dimensions of e-commerce.

Nokia has bought DiscoveryCom for $220 million in an all stock deal. DiscoveryCom is involved in the design, manufacture, and distribution of communications products that enable service providers to install and maintain broadband DSL services. Nokia says that acquisition will bolster its position in the broadband market.

Shares in Freenet.de recovered slightly yesterday after the German free ISP's results exceeded analysts' expectations for the second quarter running. Over the last six months the company has seen its shares lose 75 per cent of their value. In the first half of 2000 it said it had signed up 450,000 new users to its service.

Internet information group Clipserver.com has reported a six-month pre-tax profit of £38,000, up from a loss of £112,000 the previous half-year. Turnover was also up 15 per cent. The group shifted from Ofex to AIM in May, pocketing £5.25 million in the process.

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