Rosetta Green Ltd. was quick to jump on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) IPO bandwagon this year, and it may have jumped too soon. The company held a "surprise IPO" last Thursday, only one day after announcing the date, and without holding an institutional tender.
Rosetta Green raised NIS 21.9 million, at a company value of NIS 63 million, and will begin trading on the TASE, but only because the underwriters exercised their options. The company raised 72% of the capital it sought, and the underwriters bought the rest for NIS 6 million. Clal Finance Underwriting Ltd. led the offering, and was joined by Meitav Issuing and Finance Ltd., Rosario Underwriting Services (AS) Ltd., Excellence Nessuah Underwriting (1993) Ltd., Barak Capital Underwriting Ltd., Menora Mivtachim Underwriters & Management Ltd., and Analyst Underwriting and Issuing Ltd.
Rosetta Green uses unique genes named microRNAs to develop plants and algae with improved traits. The company focuses on two sectors: feed stocks for biofuel production; and crops with improved traits for agriculture, such as better drought tolerance, improved fertilizer use efficiency, increased yield, and enhanced disease resistance.
Rosetta Green is a spin off from biotechnology company Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (Nasdaq:ROSG), a developer of cancer diagnostic kits, which closed on Friday at $0.54, giving a market of $9 million - half of the market cap of its subsidiary, in which it owns 50%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 20, 2011
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