By editorial@silicon.com, 28 February 2000 17:30
NEWS Online auctioneer, eBay is said to be poised to make a $1bn bid for control of fine art auctioneers, Sotheby's. The news comes after a tumultuous week for the 256-year-old auction house, whose chairman and chief executive resigned last week amid accusations of price fixing. Sotheby's launched its own online operation last year amid controversy because it gives art dealers very short deadlines to sign exclusive contracts. Currently valued at $20bn (£12.5m) and with 7.7 million registered users, eBay is in a strong position to take over Sotheby's, valued at 16 times less. Established in 1995, California-based eBay is keen to boost its fine art presence and recently appointed the former president of auctioneers at auction giant Phillips, Kathleen Guzman, as senior director of business development at eBay Great Collections division. Sotheby's, which has operations in the UK, US and Australia, is in a particularly vulnerable position after the US Department of Justice mounted an investigation into alleged price fixing between Sotheby's and Christie's over prices charged to buyers and sellers.
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