Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, is planning a public offering on the London Stock Exchange in January 2011. The company's holdings include stakes in the Tamar and Leviathan natural gas discoveries.
Delek Group will try to raise $300 million through an offering of 10% of its shares, reflecting a company value of $3 billion, or NIS 10.8 billion. Delek Group's market cap is NIS 11.48 billion, so the offering will be held at a discount of about 5%.
Delek held the kickoff meeting last week, with Tshuva, Delek Group president and CEO Asaf Bartfeld, and CFO Barak Mashraki, and the underwriters, UBS, Citi, and Deutsche Bank.
Delek Group hopes that a London listing will increase its exposure to large European investors. The timing is good for the company, given the markets' rally since September, as worries about the debt crisis in Europe abate, and given developments in the company's exploration ventures. Production from Tamar is scheduled to begin in early 2012, and exploratory drilling has begun at Leviathan.
Delek Group said that "as a group which operates in international markets, it investigates from time to time various options for raising capital overseas."
Delek Group's share price rose 0.8% in early trading to NIS 1,008.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 25, 2010
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