The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) has approved the dual-listing of US drug development company MannKind Corporation (NASDAQ: MNKD). Based in California, the biopharmaceutical company's shares will begin trading on the TASE on October 28, 2015 under the ticker symbol MNKD. Based on the current market cap of $1.43 billion, MannKind’s shares will be included in five TASE equity indexes: TASE's TA-75, TA-100, TA-BlueTech, TA-Tech-Elite and TA-Biomed. The market cap leaves the shares just 5% short of the Tel Aviv 25 index.
Mannkind president and CEO Hakan Edstrom said, “The new listing also offers an opportunity to expand and diversify our shareholder base by increasing our exposure and improving our accessibility to Israeli investors. This listing is also an extension of the long-standing relationship between our Executive Chairman, Alfred Mann, and the Israeli biotechnology industry, including the Alfred Mann Institute at the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology).”
The TASE has been successful in encouraging US biomed companies to dual list in Israel in recent months. US companies Navidea Biopharmaceuticals and biotech company BioTime both dual listed in September and generic pharmaceutical giant Mylan Inc. is planning to list on the TASE as part of its hostile takeover bid for Perrigo Company (NYSE:PRGO; TASE:PRGO). Three of the companies traded on the blue chip Tel Aviv 25 Index are pharmaceutical companies - Perrigo, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NaYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA), and Opko Health Inc. (NYSE: OPK; TASE: OPK).
TASE CEO Yossi Beinart said, “We welcome MannKind to the TASE Dual Listing, and believe that this is a recognition of the biomed sector’s special position at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. MannKind has long and strong relations with the Israeli Biomed Sector, via the founder and executive chairman Mr. Alfred E. Mann, one of pioneers of the Biomed sector in the U.S., who has supported developing and commercializing Israeli technologies for many years. We are proud that a company with a market value of more than a billion US dollars chose to join 50 dually-listed companies, as well as the TASE leading indices. Joining TASE entitles MannKind to significant benefits, including added exposure among Israeli investors, extension of the trading duration, investment by Exchange Traded Product vendors and easy access to institutional and retail investors."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 25, 2015
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