Prodigy
Communications Corp. today announced that it filed a registration
statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public
offering of common stock.
The company said the offering size and the estimated price range have not
yet been determined. The timing of the offering is subject to market
conditions and other factors and is not expected to occur prior to November
1998. All of the shares proposed to be included
in the offering will be sold by Prodigy. A spokeswoman for Prodigy declined
to give further details about the offering.
White Plains, NY-based Prodigy, whose latest incarnation is as an Internet
service provider (ISP),
was a forerunner in the online content and community field in the 1980s and
early ’90s, under former owners IBM and Sears. Its biggest competitor at
the time included CompuServe, long before America Online came on the scene.
In March of this year, Prodigy Internet introduced a new user interface
custom-designed in partnership with Excite, Inc. The new user interface
categorizes information into 13 channels and enables user customization. The ISP provides connectivity via its all-digital 56Kbps network.
Prodigy underwent a series of corporate restructurings, with several
layoffs and management changes, including a run by former Viacom honcho Ed
Bennett (now at MyCD.com) at the helm. IBM and Sears later sold Prodigy to
a group of Prodigy executives and International Wireless in May 1996, with
capital from Mexico’s Grupo Carso. Current management includes Samer
Salameh, President and Chief Executive Officer, Prodigy, Inc. and Russell
I. Pillar, President and Chief Executive Officer, Prodigy Internet.
The offering is being lead-managed by Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and
BancBoston Robertson Stephens Inc. and co-managed by ING Baring Furman Selz
LLC and Volpe Brown Whelan & Company, with Wit Capital Corporation acting
as e-Manager.
A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet
become effective.
