Let's call it a comeback. Count Me In founder Terry Drayton is leading a new effort to buy back the assets of the troubled online payment processing company.
The move comes a little more than three months after Bellevue-based Count Me In was forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy by some of its non-profit customers for losing roughly $5 million in registration fees.
Drayton has now emerged as the leader of an entity called Rainier Software that appears to be in the pole position to buy the assets. It's the latest twist in a saga that has drawn considerable chatter on this blog. According to court documents, Rainier recently made a $200,000 "stalking horse bid" for Count Me In's domain names, technology, contracts and other assets.
That's left some youth sports club directors frustrated. Many of them blame Drayton for mismanaging their registration and payment processing systems.
"It does not seem right that he can be forced into bankruptcy with CMI but start a new company and buy the assets and continue to operate," said John Hockin, a former board member at the Gulf Coast United soccer club in Largo, Fla. Hockin said his club is owed more than $100,000.
"They used money that didn't belong to them," said Hockin.
But Mark Firmani, a spokesman who represents Drayton, said that the former HomeGrocer.com CEO is simply trying to keep the online payment system running.
"If no one steps up and the system goes dark, it is going to leave a lot of people and clubs in a tough spot," said Firmani.
A hearing has been set on the matter in federal bankruptcy court for 9:30 a.m. on May 8, and an auction for the assets has been set for May 19 with a minimum bid of $290,000.
The bankruptcy trustee overseeing the case has already entered into an agreement with Rainier, but it is open to other bidders as well. If another buyer steps forward, Rainier Software would receive a break-up fee of $65,000.
During the transition, Drayton has been taking a salary of $1 per month.
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