Straight From The Jerusalem Boardroom #111,
Yoram Ettinger, December 29, 2006
1. AN ALL TIME RECORD of $13.7BN in exits during 2006: 31 start ups acquired ($2.7BN), 4 NASDAQ-traded companies acquired ($7BN) and 1 private company acquired for $4BN (Ma’ariv, Dec. 27). The US-based $2BN KYPHON has acquired Israel’s DiscOTech for $220MN in milestones until 2010 (Globes, Dec. 22). $1.1BN WEBSENSE has acquired Israel’s PortAuthority for $90MN in cash (Globes, Dec. 21). PRIMAVERA acquired Israel’s ProSight for $43MN (The Marker, Dec. 13).
2. TEL AVIV STOCK EXCHANGE (TASE) has completed a 4th year in a row of growth, with an average increase of 45% in daily volume. 37 IPOs (the largest ever) took place with a total volume of $760MN, compared with 24 IPOs and $530MN. A total of 87 public offerings took place in 2006, totaling $1.2BN (The Marker, Dec. 28, 2006).
3. THE “LONDON ECONOMIST”: Israel is the fifth emerging market in terms of growth, following Singapore, Taiwan, So. Korea and Hong-Kong (Globes, Dec. 18).
4. $132MN RAISED ON NASDAQ by Israel’s Omerix and Gilat (The Marker, Dec. 16). Previous 2006 $865MN Israeli public offerings on NASDAQ: Alott ($78MN), RR Satellites ($55MN), Fortissimo Acquisition ($27MN), Israel Growth Partners ($51MN), Delek USA ($184MN), Omerix ($39MN), Ormat Technologies ($143MN), Saifan ($133MN) and IncrediMail ($19MN) (Globes, Dec. 15). $283MN RAISED ON LONDON’S AIM by Israel’s Mirland Development (Globes, Dec. 14). $49MN RAISED ON LONDON’S AIM by Israel’s Polymer Logistics (Globes, Dec. 14). The 2006 $2.24BN Israeli public offerings in Europe include: Polymer ($49MN), Mirland ($283MN), Cinema City ($106MN), EyePoint ($1MN), Summit-Germany ($96MN), Simigon ($10MN), Plaza Centers ($321MN), Nikanor ($441MN), AccessMobile ($7MN), Nanet Real Estate ($18MN), LidCom ($22MN), Summit-Germany ($102MN), Baitman-Litwin ($90MN), Atlis ($2MN), PlayTek ($463MN), MTI Wireless Edge ($10MN), Atlas Properties ($212MN) and GoldFrost ($8MN) – (Globes, Dec. 14).
5. SIEMENS ($30MN) and SINGAPORE TECHNOLOGIES ($20MN) have led a third $150MN fund, established by Israel’s Vertex (Globes, Dec. 26).
6. NORTHWEST VENTURE PARTNERS, ACCEL PARTNERS, TIME WARNER and JAPAN’s SEDONA CAPITAL led a $26MN round by Israel’s DoubleVision (The Marker, Dec. 20).
