Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) investors warmly welcomed the IPO by biomedical company Intec Pharma Ltd. The company planned to raise NIS 29 million, but the offering was oversubscribed 2.2-fold, and it raised NIS 35.2 million in gross proceeds. If all options are exercised in full, proceeds could increase by an additional NIS 18.8 million.
Before the offering, capital market sources were unsure about Intec Pharma's chances of success, in view of the mixed results of the latest offerings. The uncertainty was heightened because the company did not first hold an institutional tender for the offering, which usually provides an indication of the subsequent public tender.
Apex Underwriting & Issue Management Ltd., Poalim IBI Underwriting and Investments Ltd. (TASE:PIU), Clal Finance Ltd. (TASE:CLFN) unit Clal Finance Underwriting Ltd., Meitav Investment House Ltd. unit Meitav Issuing And Finance Ltd., and Excellence Investments Ltd. (TASE: EXCE) unit Excellence Nessuah Underwriting (1993) Ltd. were the underwriters.
Intec Pharma offered 37.5 million ordinary shares and 15 million warrants in 1.25 million units of 30 shares and 12 warrants each. The minimum price per unit was NIS 23.40. Orders for 2.8 million units were placed, for a total of NIS 74.9 million, as the heavy demand boosted the price, which was set at NIS 27 per unit.
Intec Pharma's IPO was the second IPO by a biomedical company on the TASE since 2007. Its success may whet investors' appetite for more such offerings. Possible IPOs by biomedical companies include ProteoLogics Ltd., which has already filed a draft prospectus, Applied Spectral Imaging Ltd. (ASI), and InspireMD Ltd. Both the companies and investors are now waiting to see how Intec Pharma's share will perform in the coming days.
Intec Pharma is seeking to use its "accordion capsule" delivery to improve existing drugs for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, insomnia, and muscular spasticity by controlling the release of the active pharmaceutical ingredient.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 14, 2010
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