11/20/2002 -- Publicly traded ProsoftTraining, best known for its Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) certification program and related courseware, announced in a 10-K annual report filed with the SEC last week that it's operating with a "very limited cash flow" and has entered into negotiations to sell part or all of the company to an unnamed prospective buyer.

According to the filing, the process started in July when the company hired an investment banker to "explore strategic options for the company, including a sale of some or all of its assets."

The exclusive negotiation period with the unnamed buyer ends Nov. 29. If the negotiations fall through, ProsoftTraining said it will open the process to other prospects.

It may not have much time, however; in the same statement, the company wrote: "Based on current operations, management believes that cash on hand will be sufficient...only until approximately the end of [2002]."

In the filing, ProsoftTraining said that it's also exploring other options for improving its financial outlook, including further reducing expenses, raising capital and/or discontinuing some operations.

In October, the company announced a net loss for the fiscal year ending July 31, 2002 of $34.92 million ($1.45 per share), compared to a net loss of $4.17 million ($0.18 per share) for fiscal 2001. It ended fiscal 2002 with $3.5 million in assets.

ProsoftTraining owns and operates three certification programs (CIW plus two telcom-related titles), two courseware imprints, and also manages the jCert.org cross-vendor Java certification initiative.

According to ProsoftTraining, there are currently 45,000 CIW certified professionals worldwide.

A representative for ProsoftTraining declined our request to comment on this story, stating that everything that could be said publicly was made in the 10-K filing.

For more information on this company and its certifications, click here. -B.N.