Founder May Take Buy.com Public -- for a Second Time

Internet retailer Buy.com plans to go public -- again.

And founder Scott A. Blum, who took the company public in 2000 and bought it back at fire-sale prices in 2001, is poised to collect millions -- again.

During the first go-around, Buy.com’s stock briefly doubled in value before collapsing. Blum bought out investors for 17 cents a share, a tiny fraction of the initial offering price of $13.

The Aliso Viejo-based company, which sells discounted computers, gadgets and entertainment, has never had a profitable year. It has lost more than $400 million since its debut as Buycomp.com in 1997.

Its financial picture improved somewhat last year, with losses declining to $15.4 million from $25.6 million in 2003. And management believes Buy.com can attract new investors on the strength of a steady expansion in online shopping and consumer electronics.

According to documents filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company -- which proposes to be known by the ticker symbol BUYY -- aims to raise more than $86 million in a new public offering.

That’s a little less than half of the $182 million it raised in 2000 from its first IPO, when its ticker symbol was BUYX.

Company executives declined to comment.

Chairman and Chief Executive Blum probably would be the primary beneficiary of the new offering, the securities filing said. Among other things, Buy.com plans to use the proceeds to pay off $22.7 million in debt to ThinkTank Holdings, which also is owned by Blum.

Whether the sale of any stock actually takes place remains to be seen. Many companies register offerings with the Securities and Exchange Commission but never sell shares.

In any event, the filing warned would-be investors not to expect cash returns.

“We currently intend to retain any future earnings,” the filing said, “and do not expect to pay any dividends in the foreseeable future.”

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Times staff writer James S. Granelli contributed to this report.