UK office spared in iXL shake-up

The UK offices of web integrator iXL have been spared the axe in the company's strategic reorganisation.

The UK offices of web integrator iXL have been spared the axe in the company's strategic reorganisation.

US-based iXL is planning to lay off 850 people (35 per cent of its global workforce) and to sell its dotcom portfolio, in a move which it claimed will allow the company to "focus on serving its largest clients and specific industry segments for growth".

As part of the move, seven of iXL's offices will be closed or sold, including those in Berlin, Denver, Hamburg, Los Angeles and Tokyo. "We are concentrating now on serving and growing relationships with our top 75 clients," said chief executive Bertram Ellis.

The company is to build value for shareholders by becoming a more industry-focused company, he said.

Some 10 core offices have been identified by the company as "going forward" including those in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, London and New York. iXL will also maintain smaller satellite offices in Amsterdam, Dallas and Memphis to service large clients.

The beleaguered company is hoping to complete the spin off or sale of several venture properties and groups by the end of the first quarter 2001, including part of its interest in ProAct Technologies.

Proceeds from the sales, along with the company's existing financial assets and credit facilities, are expected to provide enough capital to fund the company's turnaround.

First published in Computer Reseller News