BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. (AP) — Xceligent, the property information business owned by London-based Daily Mail and General Trust PLC (DMGT) has filed for Chap. 7 bankruptcy and is being liquidated, the company reported on Dec. 15.
Xceligent said it was laying off about 300 workers and would be closing operations. WDAF-TV reports that workers at Xceligent’s Blue Springs, Missouri, headquarters received an email Thursday afternoon telling them to pack their belongings and be out of the building within 30 minutes. They say they received no severance or payment for accrued time off.
In November, DMGT had installed new management and implemented a strategic review of the business. Xceligent was attempting to expand its operations across the U.S., collecting data one city at a time.
“This year, we expanded into the USA’s largest market, New York City. And quite candidly, the revenues were disappointing,” said Tim Collier, DMGT CEO in a conference call on Nov. 30. “And that suggests a longer and more challenging path to profitability for Xceligent.”
As a result of those losses, DMGT wrote down Xceligent’s value to basically zero.
The goal of Xceligent was to give brokers an alternative to the market leader in the property information space, CoStar. At the same time the company was expanding its market, it was also engaged in a bitter and protracted legal battle with rival CoStar.
DMGT said that responsibility for all current litigation involving Xceligent will be assumed by the Chap. 7 trustee.