A former darling of the dotcom boom is on the brink of being sold for £11.9 million (€17 million) - four years after being valued at £1.5 billion (€2.14 billion).
QXL Ricardo, an online auctioneer that was once tipped to be Europe's answer to eBay, said a 700p-a-share offer had been tabled by its management team.
The approach was recommended by independent directors as "fair and reasonable" as QXL has yet to make an annual profit and faces challenges in key markets, including the UK.
Investors paid £650 (€928) for each share of QXL at the time of its flotation in 1999, but then saw their value fall to just £1 (€1.40) at the start of this year.
Shares have rallied since then and jumped again after the recommended offer from Tiger Acquisition Corporation was confirmed.
Tiger Acquisition is backed by US private equity firm Great Hill Partners and involves QXL Chief Executive Mark Zaleski and two other directors.
QXL, which operates in 10 European countries, was founded by former Financial Timesjournalist Mr Tim Jackson in 1997.
Members of its websites buy and sell goods such as sports gear, electronics and collectables - worth more than £20 million in the three months to June 30th.
Explaining their decision to recommend the bid, independent directors said QXL had yet to make an annual profit and is unlikely to be able to pay a maiden dividend "for the foreseeable future".
In its most recent market update, QXL said it reduced half-yearly losses to £383,000 from £6 million previously, while turnover was 62 per cent higher at £2.98 million.