MotherNature.com to be liquidated

The highly competitive online vitamin and supplement market will become less so by one player following the announcement this week that MotherNature.com will cease operations. Despite a merger offer from competitor Vitacost.com, the Concord, Mass-based MotherNature.com says that it plans to wind down its business and distribute $15.8 million in remaining assets to shareholders, or about $ 1per share, over the next three years, as well as sell other assets including intellectual property. The plan will require shareholder approval at a special meeting scheduled for November 30. In a statement, MotherNature.com's board said it had been advised of the market values of comparable companies and of the lack of prospects for MotherNature.com to secure additional financing. The company also noted it had not been able to find a buyer or strategic alliance partner, and that its stock had been trading well under the net asset value of the shares. "The board believes that distributing the company's net assets to stockholders would return the greatest value to shareholders as compared to other alternatives," the statement read in part. Meanwhile, Boynton Beach, Fla.-based Vitacost.com in a statement urged MotherNature.com to put its offer directly to shareholders, pointing out that shareholders who purchased the company's stock at its IPO price would incur loss of 90% of its value on liquidation. MotherNature.com is one of the first Internet retailers, having established its web site in 1995.