When we learned of the results of Playtech Cyprus Ltd.’s (LSE:PTEC) IPO last week, one thing was clear to us: the company’s first day as a public company started out on the right foot. We preferred to let others gamble on the amount the share would rise, and waited patiently for the first day of trading in the share, i.e. today.
As expected, Playtech’s share journey as a public company began well. The share rose 6.2% to ₤2.73 in morning trading, reflecting a market cap of $1.02 billion. In effect, within minutes, Playtech was given an entry ticket to the billionaire’s club of Israeli public companies listed on international bourses.
This club now includes 888 Holding plc (LSE:888) ($1.3 billion), Playtech’s companion on the London Stock Exchange, and colleagues on Nasdaq, such as ECI Telecom Ltd. (Nasdaq: ECIL), NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE), Alon USA Energy Inc. (NYSE:ALJ), Ormat Technologies Inc. (NYSE: ORA). Nor should Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), Comverse Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: CMVT), and Amdocs Ltd. (NYSE: DOX) be forgotten.
The results of Playtech’s IPO were already known last week, but the company chose to issue an official announcement only today at 6 am, London time, two hours before the start of trading in the share. The London capital market regulator allows a company that completes an IPO to officially release the flotation results on the first trading day in the share, and not necessarily a few days before.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 28, 2006
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