Evogene Ltd. (TASE:EVGN; Pink Sheets: EVENF), which has a market cap of NIS 1.1 billion ($310 million), today updated its prospectus for an offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The company plans to offer five million shares on Wednesday or Thursday at its current share price on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) of NIS 58.80, or $16.60, to raise $83 million. If the underwriters exercise their over-allotment options in full, the amount could rise to $95 million.
The offering will likely be held at a lower price than the current share price, per the norm on Wall Street. Evogene's share price has risen 31% since it announced its plans for the offering.
Credit Suisse Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities LLC are the joint book-running managers for the proposed offering, and Oppenheimer & Co. and Piper Jaffray & Co. are the co-managers. Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON), which owns 8.6% of Evogene and has a strategic cooperation agreement for the joint development of crop varieties with it, has expressed an interest in investing $12 million in Evogene's offering, as part of the extension of their cooperation agreement. The intent is not binding, but Evogene considers the statement strong enough to mention it in the prospectus filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Evogene's share price rose 94.5% on the Bulletin Board yesterday to $16.98.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 20, 2013
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