Internet companies had also come under investor scepticism and the general view that this nascent field too, was crowded and ripe for a shakeout. This, soon after the fall from glory of consumer stocks. This, to me was quite a rapid turnaround in sentiment, since hyping of such B2B stocks began soon after consumer stocks came under pressure.
Timelines seem to be getting shorter and shorter.
Well and good, except that upon opening, the stock soared some, then tanked and was at one point trading at half its IPO price. Such a performance of course, did not impress investors. World Online IPOed 3 days later in Amsterdam. Even before this piece of information, World Online's IPO had stumbled badly, falling to less than half its listing price. In the light of its weak IPO performance, news of the chairwoman's divestiture prompted angry investor response.