Nightclub Firm to Buy Control of JagNotes.com

Are there synergies between stock picking and exotic dancing?

A company formed in May to operate adult entertainment nightclubs agreed Monday to buy a majority stake in JagNotes.com Inc. (ticker symbol: JNOT), a Boca Raton, Fla.-based investing Web site.

Go West Entertainment Inc. will acquire a 50.1% interest in JagNotes in a private stock placement to Go West’s three shareholders, the companies said.

“We believe that this transaction creates the greatest value for JagNotes’ shareholders in today’s marketplace,” Gary Valinoti, chief executive of JagNotes.com, said in a statement. “Go West’s proposed business plan offers excellent potential, and JagNotes’ shareholders will now have an opportunity to participate in that potential while at the same time maintaining their current interest in the JagNotes business.”

Go West management operates the Scores club in midtown Manhattan and plans to open more clubs under that name.

The companies said the two businesses might be separated later, possibly in a spinoff of JagNotes, if the management of JagNotes “determines that the business interests of such subsidiary would be best served were it to be operated separately.”

JagNotes, which started in May 1999, competes in an increasingly challenging market, analysts said.

“Times have changed. Audience levels for these kinds of [investment Web] sites have definitely dropped off in the past year, mirroring the stock market,” said Patrick Thomas, Internet analyst for Nielsen/NetRatings, which tracks online trends. “People don’t really want to look at how much money they have lost. It’s likely that we’ll see more and more consolidation in this area.”

Shares of JagNotes fell 5 cents Monday to 29 cents on the OTC Bulletin Board on Monday. The stock peaked at $16.50 in 1999.