HA2003 Liquidating Trust v. Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC

EASTERBROOK, Chief Judge.

HA-LO Industries made and sold “promotional products” — items such as coffee mugs bearing company logos that could be given to employees or used to advertise the firms’ businesses. In the 1990s HALO began to explore ways of making sales through electronic commerce rather than a traditional sales force. Toward the end of 1999 John Kelley, HA-LO’s CEO, decided that the way to enter the world of electronic commerce was to acquire Starbelly.com, Inc., a startup that Kelley believed had a promising e-commerce system — but that was burning through venture capital at $3…