SpinVox rumoured to be up for sale

UK-based voice to text firm SpinVox has found itself in the spotlight again, amid claims that the business has been secretly put up for sale.

A report by the BBC on Friday said that Invesco Perpetual, which owns a small stake in SpinVox, has written down the value of its £759,000 investment by 90 per cent, and made claims that the business is up for sale.

When contacted both SpinVox and Invesco declined to comment on the report and it is understood the pair are currently sparring over Invesco’s comments to the BBC.

The report does fly in the face of what telecoms.com was recently told by SpinVox co-founder Christina Domecq, when we visited its Marlow headquarters last month. In fact, Domecq said SpinVox is most definitely not looking for a buyer. At least not yet: “Getting a company to cashflow positive is a big tickbox for an entrepreneur,” she said.

Back in August, Domecq told telecoms.com that the company will be cash flow positive in the fourth quarter, having just received another £15m cash injection from existing investors to see it through. She conceded that the credit crunch has forced the company to extend its credit terms with suppliers and that SpinVox is also in legal disputes with several ‘old’ suppliers over non-payments due to “quality of service issues”. Furthermore the share offer scheme under which employees substitute some or all of their paychecks for shares is to “help SpinVox manage its cashflow” and will continue.

As we’ve said before, we like SpinVox’s technology, but reports like this don’t help the company’s claims that it’s not in financial trouble. It certainly looks like Invesco won’t be participating in another round of funding.