Sources inform ''Globes'' that Or Yehuda-based Hi-G-Tek, which develops remote wireless monitoring systems for containers and transport, is expected to raise £10 million (about $18 million) on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). Hi-G-Tek was supposed to take over the stock exchange shell of a company called ActiveWorld (AWLD.OB), which had a market capitalization of $4.5 million. The reverse merger was planned last year, and was expected to raise $3.5 million. The plan was shelved, however, in favor of the AIM. "
Recently, we understood that we'd made a mistake in planning to raise funds on Nasdaq," said Hi-G-Tek president and CEO Micha Auerbach. "In the middle of the process, we received several significant projects that we hadn't anticipated, and we now see that it wouldn't be prudent to raise $3.5 million, which would last us no more than a year, in return for 32% of the company. Moreover, trading on Nasdaq can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, so there was no incentive in that sense as well. In addition, announcing the [Nasdaq] plan, inflated our price, and made it hard for us to raise funds at an attractive price. Now we see that we have a chance to raise more money, which is why we've cancelled the reverse merger plan".
Hi-G-Tek’s remote wireless monitoring platform harnesses active radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, giving tags, seals, locks and sensors full two-way wireless communication capability. In this way, security operatives can to catch every interference and change of status in real time. This battery-operated technology can be applied to hazardous materials protection, locking systems, cargo and container protection and monitoring sites and assets.
For the first nine months of 2004, Hi-G-Tek's loss was $1.6 million on $1.2 million revenue. "We'll double our sales in 2005, relative to 2004, when they were about $3 million, and we plan to just about triple them in 2006," Auerbach said. "We're very encouraged by our new contracts in Africa, Korea, and other places".
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on Sunday, April 10, 2005