In June 2015, BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (LSE: BVC) was delisted from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), retaining only its listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Now, four years later, it is returning to the TASE with a market cap of NIS 820 million, more than double its NIS 385 million value when it was delisted.
BATM was founded by CEO Zvi Marom, who is also one of the company's largest shareholders with 22.1% of the share capital (Swiss bank Lombard Odier holds 25% and UK investment company Herald Investment Management holds 5.6%).
BATM has business in three sectors: communications, medical devices for laboratories, and handling medical waste. It began in 1992 as a communications company, but when changes occurred in communications protocols, it decided to spread its risk, and entered the medical devices field. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once worked for a short time at the company as a consultant between his two terms as prime minister.
BATM recently raised $18 million at £0.425 a share, close to its current price, in a financing round joined by investment institutions from Israel. The company's renewed listing on the TASE is not being accompanied by an offering.
Headed for the Tel Aviv 90 Index
The company said, "BATM's dual registration is aimed at providing a local platform for Israeli investment institutions, which have recently become shareholders in the group. The listing will also extend access to trading in the shares to a broader range of investors and expand the investor base in order to improve liquidity and marketability of the group's shares." BATM's share is likely to enter the Tel Aviv 90 Index.
Marom said, "These are exciting times for BATM, with excellent progress in all of its activities and dual registration on the TASE, which will make our growth story accessible to a broader spectrum of investors. We are a global company with a headquarters and substantial activity in Israel. We recently completed an $18 million financing round from investors from the UK and Israel. As a result, in view of the ability to trade conveniently between the London and Tel Aviv Stock Exchanges, it is a natural step for expanding our investor base, through which, together with sustainable growth, we anticipate in increase in trading liquidity in our shares and the creation of value for all of the investors."
BATM had $58 million in revenue in the first half of 2018, 17% more than in the first half of 2017. It posted a $1.9 million loss in the first half of 2018, compared with a $2.9 million loss in the first half of 2017. The company recently raised $30 million for its new Ador subsidiary, a laboratory tests spin-off.
The reason cited for BATM's delisting from the TASE in 2015 was the lack of progress towards electronic clearing systems between the TASE and the LSE, resulting in low turnovers and a lack of added value for the company's being listed on the TASE. At the time, BATM had been dual-listed for two years.
BATM's return is a positive step for the TASE, from which quite a few dual-listed technology companies have been delisted in recent years, including Cyren, Cellect, and Ceragon Networks, and larger companies in earlier years, such as Mellanox and Ituran Location and Control.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 8, 2019
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