Microdent Ventures Ltd., controlled by Eitan Wertheimer, has invested $3 million in start-up Jemtex Ink Printing Ltd., a developer of digital printers for industrial use. The investment was reportedly made at a company value of $5 million, before money.
Jemtex VP business development Dr. Meir Weksler and CTO Dr. Shuki Sheinman founded the company in 1995. The main applications of the company’s continuous ink jet printing technology are in the carpet and decorative ceramics industries. The company has had a hard time lately. In July 2006, its main investor, Scailex Corp. ltd. (TASE: SCIX; SCIXF.OB) (formerly Scitex), which owned a 75% stake, announced the closing down of the company and the write-off of its $9.7 million investment.
A month later, Scailex reversed itself, and, after sending lay-off notices to Jemtex’s employees, announced that the company would continue to operate. Jemtex CEO Avi Raby and Sheinman bought 60% of the company, and reached an agreement with Scailex under which the latter would keep a 15% stake and be paid $3 million on its investment over 5-7 years, or $1 million at the end of this year.
Microdent’s investment enables Jemtex to repay Scailex, and retain $2 million for operations.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on February 13, 2007
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