Breakaway Lays Off 200 as It Prepares to Move

MAYNARD, MA-Less than three months after Breakaway Solutions Inc. moved out of its new offices in Boston and returned to its regional offices here, the locally-based Internet consulting firm reportedly will lay off 200 employees and relocate its headquarters to Philadelphia. The company also plans on closing offices in Denver and in London.

The restructuring of the company is part of a move to reduce costs. The changes come at the same time when the two-year old company has managed to secure shareholder approval of a $33-million equity investment. Among the funding participants are Philadelphia-based SCP Private Equity Partners and Wayne, PA-based Internet Capital Group.

Breakaway made headlines in January when, six weeks after it moved into its new offices on the South Boston waterfront in World Trade Center East, the company put those 100,000 sf back on the market. It was the first in a series of sublease space that was dumped by high-tech companies in a short period of time and the move sent shock waves through Boston, a market of notoriously low vacancies. Breakaway relocated its headquarters here and the Trade Center space was eventually taken back by the building and is still available.