George Soros cuts Allot stake to 4%

George Soros Photo: Reuters
George Soros Photo: Reuters

The billionaire owned a 15.7% stake in the Israeli technology company a year ago.

Billionaire George Soros's investment fund is still selling shares in Allot Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:ALLT; TASE: ALLT). The fund cut its stake in Allot from 10.7% in November to 9.7% at the end of 2018 and only 4% as of the beginning of February 2019, compared with a 15.7% holding in the Israeli company a year ago.

Reports delivered to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that Soros Fund Management currently held 1.4 million shares in Allot with a current market value of $10.2 million. The fund's sales of Allot shares in recent months were at an average price of $6.40-6.50, which would put the proceeds from the sales at $14 million. Soros Fund sold shares in Allot for $10-11 million in February-November 2018.

Another party at interest in Allot who recently sold shares in the company is Zohar Zisapel, who sold all of the Allot shares he held for $18-19 million. Allot, managed by CEO Erez Antebi, changed its business focus in recent years, and now provides solutions for communications activity. The company's market cap is $254 million.

Goldman Sachs has a 5.6% holding in Orbotech

Parties at interest in Nasdaq-listed companies report changes in their holdings at this time of the year. One such report concerns Orbotech Ltd. (Nasdaq: ORBK), which provides technologies for use in the manufacturing of electronics products. 11 months ago, Orbotech reported that it had been acquired by US company KLA Tencor, but the deal, which was slated for completion by the end of 2018, is being delayed until Chinese regulatory approval is obtained.

Meanwhile, Orbotech is still listed on Nasdaq, and had a new party at interest at the end of the year: the Goldman Sachs investment bank, which reported at the end of last week that it held 5.6% of Orbotech's shares, worth $168 million at the current share price. The price in the acquisition deal is $38.86 in cash plus 0.25 KLA shares for each Orbotech share, which puts the value of Goldman Sachs's holding at $177 million.

Another report by a party at interest was by US investment company BlackRock, which increased its holdings in SolarEdge Technologies (Nasdaq: SEDG) from 7.1% to 9.7%. BlackRock's stake in SolarEdge is worth $192 million.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 10, 2019

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2019

George Soros Photo: Reuters
George Soros Photo: Reuters
Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018