NEW YORK-Premiere Technologies Inc. of Atlanta plans its debut in the public capital markets early next month to finance its expansion as a provider of systems integrating various modes of communications into one device.
The company is one player in a larger trend toward communications technology consolidation. The movement is toward reducing costs and improving efficiency for end-users, who now often must use separate, incompatible technologies for calling, paging, voice mail, electronic mail, fax and online communications.
Premiere Technologies hopes to sell 6.5 million shares of common stock, including 1.93 million to be offered by existing shareholders, at a share price of $10 to $12. Assuming a share price of $11, Premiere would net about $46 million from the sale of 4.57 million in newly issued shares, after underwriters’ and other fees are deducted. Alex, Brown & Sons Inc. of Baltimore are lead underwriters for the offering.
Premiere markets its services through arrangements with companies like Arch Communications Enterprises Inc., a nationwide paging services provider. The Arch arrangement began in January. Premiere also has licensing agreements with companies including Cable and Wireless Inc., the U.S. arm of Cable & Wireless plc.
Premiere, which markets its services under the names “Premiere WorldLink” and “AFCOM,” said in its preliminary offering statement that it sees strategic partnership development and service expansion as key to its growth and diversification. At the same time, the document states, “the company’s proposed paging services are expected to compete with paging services offered by companies such as AT&T [Corp.], Mobile Telecommunications Technology Corp., MobileMedia Communications Inc. and Paging Network Inc.”
Premiere plans to introduce enhanced products this year to enable it to better compete with new technologies, including notebook computers equipped with sound cards and fax and cellular modems, portable Internet appliances that allow connection to the Internet over wireless networks and personal digital assistants with enhanced communications features.
It also sees competition from “several communications companies (that) are developing or have developed services that would compete with (Premiere’s) proposed `follow me’ service by allowing users to have a single telephone number for all their communications devices.”
According to the preliminary offering statement, Premiere plans to use about $11 million of the IPO’s net proceeds to invest in expanding its network management system infrastructure and about $2 million to repay existing debts.
