Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. (TASE: CII) sold 650,000 shares in Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (Nasdaq:NVMI; TASE:NVMI) during the first half of December for $4.9 million, according to a statement that Nova filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The shares were sold for between $7.285 and $7.731 per share.
The sales reduced IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) holding company Clal Industries' holding in Nova to 11.3%, worth $23 million, making Clal Industries still the biggest shareholder in the company.
Nova develops and manufactures integrated and stand-alone metrology systems for the semiconductor industry. The company has been one of the outstanding value creators among Israeli shares on Nasdaq, rising 1,683% in the past two years. Anyone who believed in the company when it was at bottom is now laughing all the way to the bank.
This is not the first time that Clal Industries has sold shares in Nova. It sold $5.1 million worth of shares in March, when Nova was traded at $5 per share, 32% below its current level.
The sales by Clal Industries and Teuza - A Fairchild Technology Venture Ltd. (TASE:TUZA) have increased the float in Nova, enabling other investors, such as US investment institutions, to buy shares.
Such purchases may take place in the coming weeks, and not necessarily because of sales by Clal Industries. Nova executives will host an investors meeting in New York next week, and chairman Dr. Micha Brunstein and president and CEO Gabi Seligsohn will ring the opening bell on Nasdaq on Monday, January 10.
Nova's share price fell 0.5% at the opening on Nasdaq today to $8.16, giving a market cap of $205 million, after rising 0.1% on the TASE today to NIS 29.94.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 29, 2010
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