CarsDirect.com Withdraws IPO Plans

Online car retailer CarsDirect.com withdrew its plans to raise up to $172.5 million in an initial public stock offering in response to investor skepticism about electronic-commerce stocks. The Culver City-based company, which filed for an IPO in May, decided to “delay” those plans because “market conditions today are simply unreceptive to new offerings,” said Chief Executive Bob Brisco. Shares of competitors Autoweb.com and Autobytel.com are trading at less than one-tenth of their IPO prices. CarsDirect.com, which has raised more than $300 million in private capital, still has more than $100 million in cash reserves on hand, and that should last the company until it becomes profitable, a company spokeswoman said. She declined to say when that would happen. Last month, the company cut costs by laying off 90 of its nearly 700 employees. CarsDirect.com was hatched two years ago by the Pasadena-based Internet business incubator Idealab, which shelved its own IPO plans in October.