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Motley Fool axes German site

Graeme Wearden ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 05 Jan 2001 15:42 GMT

Personal investment site The Motley Fool closed its German Internet site Thursday after it failed to find a business parter.

It is not clear whether the organisation's UK site will follow suit.

In a statement on www.fool.de, the company blames difficult economic conditions for the closure. "The business environment in which we have been active has taken a turn. Just under a year ago the sky had no limits. But the euphoria and panic that took over the financial markets did not stop before our doors. And so the conditions in which we searched for a German partner changed dramatically."

"We were no longer in a position to negotiate terms deemed acceptable to us and this is the reason why www.fool.de must now shut down", the statement continued.

A spokesman for fool.co.uk refused to comment on suggestions that the UK site was at risk of shutdown, and insisted that it was performing well. "The UK [Motley Fool] site has over three quarters of a million users and 17 million hits a month, which has to count as a pretty big success."

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