Jim Rose, chief executive of QXL ricardo, resigned his post, and the online auction site said it was open to takeover offers, according to the British Financial Times newspaper.

QXL ricardo plc is a pan-European online auction site offering its service in eleven languages and twelve currencies. The site was started in 1997 by Tim Jackson, a columnist for the Financial Times, under the name Quixell. The name was changed to QXL in 1998. In 1999, it merged with eSwap and Humpty Dumpty, two U. K. auction sites, and in October of that year, it went public on the London Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq National Market. QXL continued to expand throughout Europe and merged with ricardo. de AG in 2000, when it changed its name to QXL ricardo plc.

The company has yet to make a profit, announcing recently second-quarter losses of 8 million pounds. A discussion group composed of QXL members can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QXLauctions.