Buy-out fund First Israel Mezzanine Investors Fund Ltd. (FIMI) has closed a $300 million fund for investing in Israeli companies. Managed by Ishay Davidi, the new fund is named FIMI Opportunity II. FIMI plans to leverage the money to invest $600 million through 2008.
Davidi says FIMI originally planned to raise $200 million, but decided to expand the round to $300 million after receiving many requests.
FIMI has invested in over 30 companies to date. Its most successful investments were in Lipman Electronics Engineering Ltd. (Nasdaq: LPMA; TASE: LPMA), Tadiran Communications Ltd. (TASE: TDCM) and Tadir-Gan (Precision Products) 1993 Ltd. (TASE:TDGN).
Investors in the FIMI Opportunity Fund II include a group of investors who previously gambled successfully on Davidi and his team, and invested in the FIMI Opportunity Fund I. They include MassMutual Financial Group of the US, which manages billions of dollars in assets; Jeffries Broadview, a division of Jeffries & Co. (NYSE:JEF), and new European investors.
FIMI’s Israeli investors include most of the country’s banks and insurance companies, especially Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT), Israel Phoenix Assurance Co. Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1 ;PHOE5), and Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd. (TASE: CLIS).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on September 28, 2005