Divine, Inc. (stylized in lowercase), originally Divine Interventures, was a company that invested in internet companies during the dot-com bubble. The company was originally modeled after CMGI but changed its business plan after the bubble burst.[2]
The company's tagline was "an Internet Zaibatsu" and the company's goal was to create "a family of businesses that work collaboratively to create mutual opportunity and gain."[3]
In 2003, it filed bankruptcy and underwent liquidation after executives were accused of looting a subsidiary.
The company had 38 people on board of directors, including Michael Jordan, and on February 3, 2001, 27 members resigned as the company attempted to streamline its management.[4]
In February 2001, the company changed its name from Divine Interventures to Divine.[2]
In April 2001, the company acquired most of the assets of MarchFirst for $120 million.[7][8]
In May 2001, the company agreed to acquire RoweCom for $14 million in stock.[9]
In July 2001, the company agreed to acquire eShare for $71 million in stock.[10]
In August 2001, the company agreed to acquire Open Market for $59 million in stock.[11]
In January 2003, creditors of RoweCom filed a lawsuit against Divine, claiming that executives fraudulently transferred $73.7 million that was due to publishers, before abandoning the business.[12]
In April 2003, Divine's assets were sold at auction to Saratoga Partners, Golden Gate Private Equity, Little Bear Investment, and Outtask, for a total of $54 million.[14] Saratoga Partners then sold the enterprise content management business to FatWire.[15] The Open Market patents were acquired by Soverain Software.
