Merrill Lynch investment bank and the IBI brokerage firm today acquired from Mashov 10% of the shares of Internet company Walla! (formerly Mashov Marketing). The deal was concluded at market prices, and amounted to $2 million. The purchasers intend to take steps to register Walla!’s shares for trading on Wall Street, as they did, two years ago, with Formula, the controlling shareholder of Mashov Computers.
The sale of 10% of Walla! was preceded by contacts between Mashov Computers and various communications sector companies, Yediot Ahronot, Ma’ariv and international calls company Barak. Today, too, contacts are in progress for a strategic investment in Walla!. A source associated with the purchasing group told "Globes" today: "We believe in Walla!’s potential, and in our ability to spot it at a relatively early stage".
Since mid-1998, Walla!’s shares have risen by more than 1,200%, as a result of the dizzying advance of Internet company shares abroad. Walla! is a "portal", an entry gate for Internet surfing, that serves as a key junction for hundreds and thousands of Hebrew-speaking surfers. The portal serves 50,000 users daily in sites offering search engines, news, economics, entertainment, tourism, computer information and so on. The company is managed by Gadi Hadar, has a payroll of thirty, and posted 1998 sales of NIS 3.9 million. Walla!’s losses last year amounted to NIS 1. million.
Published by Israel's Business Arena May 13, 1999