Home carbonated drinks manufacturer Sodastream International Ltd. (Nasdaq: SODA) is today laying the cornerstone for a Negev factory.
The 850,000 square-foot manufacturing facility is being built in the Idan Hanegev Industrial Park near the Lahavim junction north of Beersheva. The new factory is expected to begin operations in 2013 and will employ 1,000 people. Sodastream is investing €30 million in the new factory.
Sodastream CEO Daniel Birnbaum said, "The demand for our products is increasing, and we continue to take steps to ensure that we are ahead of capacity to meet that demand. Sodastream is deeply grateful for the cooperation from the government of the State of Israel. We look forward to leveraging the outstanding engineering talent here, the free trade agreements with the EU and North America, and to providing thousands of new jobs as our business continues to grow."
SodaStream has 13 production facilities worldwide, including a new one in the Galilee town of Alon Tavor that began operation on June 26, 2011, four weeks ahead of schedule. This factory is manufacturing a full range of soda-makers and related products for markets such as France, Sweden, Switzerland and the US. Additional machinery will be added to another Galilee site in Kiryat Shemona later this summer. Both facilities are intended to bridge capacity needs while the new Negev facility is under construction.
Since holding its IPO on Nasdaq last November Sodstream's share price has risen 191%. This upward trend continued on Wall Street yesterday when the share price rose 3.27% to $70.40, giving a market cap of $1.4 billion. In after-hours trading the share price rose a further 0.27% to $70.59.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 6, 2011
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