The march of Israeli companies floating on Nasdaq began well with the IPO of Shamir Optical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq:SHMR). At the end of last week, Shamir Optical raised $56 million at $14 per share (the average of the projected rice range), and at a market cap of $225 million. The company issued 3.4 million shares, raising a gross $47.6 million, and shareholders sold 600,000 shares for $8.4 million. The underwriters, CIBC Capital Markets, CE Unterberg, Towbin, and William Blair & Co., have a one-month option to buy 600,000 more shares from the company's shareholders, increasing the total amount raised by another $8.4 million.
Shamir Optical was welcomed on its first day of trading, rising 14.3% to $16, reflecting a market cap of $258 million, or NIS 1.1 billion. The share rose to $19.50 during the session, reflecting a return of almost 40%.
Since Shamir Optical was the first IPO by an Israeli company on Nasdaq in 2005, and the first by a kibbutz company, its management, led by president and CEO Giora Ben-Zeev, was granted the honor of ringing the closing bell on Friday.
Kibbutz Shamir, located in the Upper Galilee and with 270 members, owned 80.6% of Shamir Optical before the IPO. It sold $5.5 million worth of shares, diluting its holding to 61.1%. FIBI Holdings (TASE: FIBI), the parent company of First International Bank of Israel (TASE: FTIN1;FTIN5), owned 14.2% of Shamir Optical before the IPO, and sold $2.5 million worth of shares, diluting its holding to 10.1%. A third shareholder that participated in the offer to sell was Kibbutz Eyal, which sold $336,000 worth of shares, diluting its stake from 4% to 3%.
Shamir Optical became a public company only last week, but it has been in business for 33 years. Based in Kibbutz Shamir, the company develops and manufactures multifocal lenses to treat presbyopia.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 14, 2005