Without attracting much attention, Yitzhak Tshuva has achieved one of the most impressive and profitable exits in Israel this year. The lack of headlines may be due to the fact that his exit has been split into multiple deals, but the results over the past three months total a very respectable exit.
Tshuva has sold shares in Deltathree.com (Nasdaq: DDDC), which provides voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services, and which is traded at an $80 million market cap. Over the past three months, Tshuva-controlled Atarey Hasharon Chevra Lepituach, has been consistently selling its Deltathree shares. Tshuva acquired a 70.4% controlling interest in Atarey Hasharon in June 2001 at $0.80 per share. The share has since rise to $2.76, a handsome 245% rise.
Tshuva began selling his Deltathree holdings in November 2003, and has since sold shares for $24.2 million (NIS 108 million). His most recent sale request filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is estimated at $6.3 million. Following the sale, Atarey Hasharon’s Deltathree stake will fall to 43%.
Tshuva is posting a 73% profit on the sales, amounting to $17.6 million (NIS 80 million), an amazing profit, considering that Deltathree is not making a profit. The market boom over the past year has boosted the share’s value.
Deltathree has climbed 318% over the past year, but has dropped 5.5% in 2004. The company lost $1.9 million on sales of $3.3 million in the third quarter of 2003. Deltathree is expected to publish its fourth quarter results on March 4.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 25, 2004