Beltsville-Based Internet Company Digex to Go Public
Yet another Washington area Internet company -- Digex Inc. of Beltsville -- is jumping into the stock market. Yesterday it filed plans to raise $55 million by selling its first shares to the public.</br></br>Digex said in documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will sell an undetermined number of shares to finance expanding its computer network, attracting more customers and acquiring smaller Internet companies. The offering is being underwritten by Salomon Brothers Inc. and Montgomery Securities Corp.</br></br>"We believe that we are just at the beginning of this industry, although there has already been rapid growth," said Digex Chief Executive Christopher McCleary.</br></br>Many other Internet companies, which provide customers with links to the worldwide network of computers, have gone public over the last year. They include major national players such as UUNet Technologies Inc. of Fairfax and PSINet Inc. of Herndon.</br></br>The prices of those stocks have rocketed up and down this year as major competitors enter the market and the industry changes rapidly.