The largest IPO ever on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) got off to a disappointing start today, with most of Israel's large institutional investors participating in the institutional tender of Azrieli Group's) IPO. The minimum price was set at NIS 83.25 per share, reflecting a capital equal to the company's valuation. However, demand only reached NIS 1.55 billion, far below the forecasts of NIS 2.5 billion.
The minimum order was 961 units, of ten shares. Payment for the purchases will be transferred to Azrieli Group by 2 pm tomorrow. Azrieli Group is one of Israel's largest owners of malls, and also has energy and manufacturing interests through Granite Hacarmel Investments Ltd. (TASE: GRNT), as well as a 20% stake in credit card company Leumi Card Ltd.
At the start of trading today, market sources expected about NIS 3 billion in demand in the offering. Some underwriters feared repercussions from today's flotilla incident would affect the offering. An underwriter told "Globes" that the IPO was on track and that there were no unusual last minute incidents.
The underwriters for the offering are Poalim IBI Underwriting and Investments Ltd. (TASE:PIU), Leumi Partner Underwriters Ltd., and Clal Finance Underwriting Ltd.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 31, 2010
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