A team of private investors look set to throw troubled online services group Scoot.com a lifeline with an estimated £25m cash boost. It is unclear who the backers are but the move is just one of a number of options being considered as part of a strategic review to pull the company out of the financial mire.

Scoot.com, which has lost 99% of its value from last year's £2.5bn peak, is understood to have secured the money against Loot, the profitable classified advertising business acquired for £177m but now valued at just £70m.

The cash injection would help tide the company over until the UK business becomes cash positive at the end of 2001 and the European arm by the end of 2002. Analysts reckon the online firm has less than seven months worth of cash left.

Scoot would only say yesterday that it is "examining a number of initiatives aimed at enhancing the company's financial position and its path to profitability". The sale of Loot is one option, although a round of cost cutting and redundancies is seen as most likely. Departure from new offices in Uxbridge is also being investigated.

Scoot added that it expected to announce the results of its strategic review, which is being carried out by Merrill Lynch, at the end of June together with first quarter figures. The company reported a £72m loss for the year to December 31, mainly due to technology problems.

Long-suffering shareholders were dealt a blow this month when French media giant Vivendi Universal, which owns 22% of Scoot, backed out of takeover talks. Vivendi had offered 15p a share, valuing the group at £100m, but this was rejected as "wholly inadequate". So far, Vivendi's decision to walk away has failed to bring any other bidders out of the woodwork, although France's Wanadoo and Italy's Thomson Directories are possible contenders.

Analysts had expected Vivendi to offload its shareholding last week but it has so far hung on to the stake. Scoot shares were up 1p to 9p.