Friday, August 25, 2000
Mycom going public
Merger maneuvers open way for trading
By John J. Byczkowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Mycom Group has become one of Cincinnati's first publicly traded Internet services companies, but its route there wasn't the one taken by Yahoo or Amazon.
Mycom engineered a reverse merger with Bad Toys Inc. of Kingston, Tenn.: Bad Toys, a public company that sold customized motorcycles, acquired Mycom. Bad Toys will change its name to Mycom, then CEO Larry Lunan will buy back the motorcycle business, leaving Mycom a public company.
Mycom's stock will trade on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board, for small-capitalization, thinly traded stocks. Bad Toys' ticker symbol was “BDTY,” and Mycom has applied for a new symbol.
Companies that go public through initial public offerings of stock come away with money to fund their expansion. Mycom, though, went public without selling stock, but CEO George Young said the change will still enable the company to raise money.
An IPO for Mycom would have cost $1.5 million, he said. “This was certainly an easier route, if you can find the right public shell,” he said.
Mycom found that shell in Tennessee. Bad Toys' Mr. Lunan will keep his motorcycle business and become a shareholder of MYCOM.
With stock to offer investors, Mycom is raising $6 million, Mr. Young said. The ability to issue stock will also help the company make acquisitions.
Mycom has 60 employees in its downtown Cincinnati offices. The company bills itself as offering end-to-end e-commerce solutions, helping companies build the systems for transactions and also build the Web interfaces that users see. Clients include Procter & Gamble Co. and the Ohio Lottery.
The new $6 million in investments “are going to help us accelerate the growth of the business,” Mr. Young said. “Our e-business is really growing right now.”
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