Sahar Development & Investments Ltd. (TASE:SAIN-M) yesterday raised NIS 21 million in a rights offering for shareholders. 99.7% of the rights issued were acquired by shareholders whose rights were proportional their current holdings in the company. Following the offering, Eurocom Investments Ltd. owns 59% compared with 50% it held as of September 10, the most recent report on the parties at interest. Hawkins Bioventures LLC, controlled by Michael Weiss, owns 6.7% of Sahar, compared with 21.7% at the time of the publication of the prospectus for the offering.
Michael Weiss was considered a dominant force in Sahar together with Eurocom, but now that his holding has been significantly reduced, the extent of his future involvement remains unclear. Weiss refused to sign the rights prospectus for reasons that the company did not disclose, but these could be related to his wish to sell shares at a time when the prospectus is open.
Sahar is a holding company founded for the purpose of investment in life sciences companies. Its sole holding at present is options and shares in Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd. (TASE:CFBI), which it received through the personal contribution by Weiss and Eurocom controlling shareholder Alex Rabinovich, when Can-Fite was floated. This holding was valued at zero in Sahar’s prospectus for the rights offering, due to the unlikelihood of the company being able to sell most of these options, and the negligible value of those options than can now be exercised.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on September 17, 2007
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2007