Terry Drayton regained control of Count Me In on Wednesday, a strange twist given that the embattled founder of the Bellevue Internet company apologized profusely earlier this year for bungling payments to more than 200 non-profit and youth sports organizations that utilized the company's online registration technology.
The missed payments, totaling $5 million, led to an involuntary bankruptcy filing and a court-led seizure of the business five months ago.
In Wednesday's ruling, federal bankruptcy judge Samuel Steiner approved the sale of the Count Me In assets for $200,000 to Rainier Software, an entity led by Drayton.
The asset sale came over the objections of Count Me In creditors, including a strongly worded filing by rival bidder, The Active Network.
In court documents Tuesday, The Active Network -- which also operates an online registration system for sports leagues -- called the auction process "flawed" and questioned the integrity of the bankruptcy trustee.
"...Active objects to the sale both on the grounds that the sale was unfair and that the trustee improperly accepted a lower price than he would have received had the sale been conducted properly," the company wrote in the filing.
In a declaration, the registrar for the Murfreesboro Soccer Club -- one of the more than 200 sports clubs owed money -- said she was "deeply troubled" that the Active Network was being precluded from making what she believed was a higher bid for the assets.
But a number of other sports clubs offered their support for Drayton's new company including customers who preferred the online registration technology over that of the Active Network. Greg Swain, president of the San Jose American Little League, wrote in a May 15 letter to the court that he had experience with both systems and that Count Me In's technology was superior.
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