Hold on, Intermedia sale is good sign, analyst says

By KYLE PARKS

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 18, 2000

When WorldCom announced it was buying Intermedia Communications Inc., Marty Donsky knew what the area's reaction would be:

Woe is us, the Tampa Bay area is losing another public company.

Get over it, says Donsky, business development and marketing manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers' technology practice in Tampa.

"I get tired of everyone gnashing their teeth about losing a public company," he says. "If we are producing companies that are getting bought, it's a sign that we're producing intellectual property that someone wants."

The bigger issue, he says, is whether there are other companies growing to take Intermedia's place as a big fish in the west-central Florida pond.

"On that front, there's some good news," says Donsky, who estimates there are as many as 10 fast-growing area technology companies that could go public in the next couple of years.

"At some point in a tech company's growth, it's either time to go public, get sold or merge with someone else," he says. "Before you get to that point, you have to get venture capital, and there are plenty of companies here that have that going for them."

On the move

Here are some companies that could decide to go public or be sold to larger companies. Either move would be a sign that Tampa Bay is maturing as a technology center:

CommerceQuest Inc.-Software provider

Switch & Data Facilities Inc. -- Facilities for telecom companies

KnowledgeView Inc.- Interactive technology training

E-Angler Inc.-Web fishing information

BrainBuzz Inc.-Job listings for tech workers

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