IES Electronics Industries Ltd., owned by Haim Geyer, is acquiring control of Teva Naot from Kibbutz Naot Mordechai. Geyer, via IES, will buy 66% of the shoe manufacturer at a company value of $120 million, meaning an $80 million payment.
Teva Naot's average annual rate of growth for the past several years has been 12%. In 2005, the company reported NIS 110 million in sales, with a profit of several million shekels.
The company, which was founded as a clog maker in 1942, and had repositioned itself as a health shoe and sandal maker in the mid-80s, found itself on the verge of bankruptcy in 1998 after Israel's shoe market was opened to foreign imports. At that point, Teva Naot had NIS 55 million in sales, and was posting losses.
It was at that stage that a new general manager, Michael Illouz, was brought in. Illouz managed to rehabilitate the company by introducing fashion health footwear. Teva Naot states that 70% of its current activity is export to the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia.
In Israel, Teva Naot owns 17 stores; its footwear is also carried by over 100 privately-owned shoe stores.
IES Electronics Industries is a local Israeli representative for electronics industries, and recently set up a hedge fund. The company ended the first nine months of 2005 with NIS 5 million net profit on NIS 24.6 million revenue. It has NIS 90 million in cash reserves, and NIS 100 million shareholders equity.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Thursday, December 22, 2005