Even as Comverse Technology Inc's (Pink Sheets: CMVT.PK) board of directors is in talks to sell subsidiaries with private equity funds and high-tech giants, the company's management has taken another step toward the sale of part of the holding in audio and video surveillance and automated analysis solutions developer Verint Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: VRNT). Comverse's shaky condition and the plunge in the value of its liquid assets have forced it to sell assets, and the partial sale of Verint is one of them.
Five months ago, Comverse announced that it planned to sell part of its holding in Verint, and it published a prospectus for this purpose. The prospectus has been updated as needed. On Thursday, Verint filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) another draft, which, for the first time, disclosed the name of the investment banks that will serve as the underwriters of the offer for sale: Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, is the lead underwriter, and RBC Capital Markets, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Barclays Capital Ltd., and Oppenheimer & Co. LLC are the secondary underwriters.
The naming of the underwriters is a clear signal that the offer for sale is imminent, and may be carried out within a month.
Comverse plans to sell 6.1% of Verint. The holding is currently worth $69 million. If the sale goes ahead as planned, Comverse's stake in Verint will fall to 44.9%, and to 43.9% if the underwriters exercise their options.
Verint's share price closed at $31.52 on Thursday, giving a market cap of $1.16 billion, half of the $2.17 billion market cap of its main rival, NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE). Verint's share price rose 64% this year, which may explain the timing of Comverse's sale.
Comverse's share price closed at $7.50 on Thursday, giving a market cap of $1.53 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 26, 2010
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