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Technology Stocks : Switchboard.com -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Norm Demers who wrote (6)	11/3/1999 3:12:00 PM
From: Mort	Respond to of 7

Switchboard.com files to raise $60 mln in IPO November 1, 1999 05:38 PM By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Switchboard Inc., an Internet-based network connecting consumers, merchants and national advertisers, filed with regulators to raise as much as $60 million in an initial public offering. The company, based in Westboro, Mass., allows users of its Web site to search for information about people and businesses around the United States, including 96 million individuals, 12 million businesses and 4 million e-mail addresses. Switchboard, which is owned by Banyan Systems Inc. BNYN , also offers services that allow merchants to list their businesses online and connect with consumers to facilitate sales. Additionally, the company's Web site, switchboard.com, offers free e-mail and the ability to make Internet home pages to users as well as message boards and a gift shop. The company recently entered into an agreement with CBS Corp. CBS in which the television giant will provide about $95 million in advertising and promotion of Switchboard across its services, including television, radio and outdoor advertising. CBS holds about 7.4 million shares, or a 35 percent stake, in Switchboard prior to the offering while Banyan Systems holds about 54 percent, according to the company. Switchboard posted $3.1 million in revenue during the first six months of 1999 and registered $1.3 million in net losses in that period, according to the preliminary prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission late Friday. The company has 42 full-time employees as of Sept. 30. The company said it plans to use the net proceeds from the IPO for working capital and general corporate purposes, according to the filing. Switchboard did not disclose how many shares it plans to sell or the projected price range for the IPO in its SEC filing. Typically, companies file subsequent documents with the agency detailing that information. The $60 million figure cited in the IPO filing was merely a basis for calculating the SEC registration fee, the company said. It has applied to list its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol "SWBD." Douglas Greenlaw, 55, joined the company as its chief executive officer last month and previously was an independent management consultant. J.P. Morgan & Co. and Robertson Stephens are the lead underwriters of the offering. ((Reuters SEC Desk, 202-898-8399)) REUTERS