Kamada Ltd. (TASE: KMDA) had a disappointing offering on Wall Street on Friday. The company raised $51.6 million, in an offering that over-subscribed three-fold. But the offering of 5.6 million shares was priced at $9.25 per share, compared with the $10.60 per share that the company had hoped to achieve.
Most of the buyers were US investors, including leading life sciences funds. The underwriters have an over-allotment option to buy additional shares for up to $7.7 million. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Jefferies LLC were the lead underwriters and RBC Capital Markets LLC and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. were the co-managers. Rothschild investment bank was the adviser for the offering.
Kamada, a drug development company run by CEO David Tsur, produces and sells in the US a treatment for congenital emphysema. It is considered one of the most stable and successful life sciences companies listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE). The company had planned to raise up to $69 million at a company value of $331 million, but the offering was held at a value of $318 million.
Trading in Kamada began on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol KMDA on May 31.
Tsur said, "The company's offering on Nasdaq was a honor for the company and a strategic milestone, which will help up accelerate and promote Kamada's business activity and fulfill the great potential in its wide range of current and future products.
"The strong demand for the company's offering, reflected in the over-subscription and success of the offering demonstrate the strong appreciation for Kamada. In this offering, tier-1 US investors and funds in the life sciences, which the company believes could value the company's achievements to date, and especially our future business potential in the coming years, have become investors in the company.
Kamada's shareholders include the estate of the late Ralf Hahn (16.7%), Leon Recanati's GlenRock Israel (12%), which has held a stake in the company since 2005. He and Tsur managed the company's transition from a producer of proteins, which were mainly sold in emerging markets, to a company with added value products which have tens of millions of dollars in sales in developed markets. Other shareholders include The Phoenix Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1;PHOE5) and its subsidiary Excellence Investments Ltd. (TASE: EXCE). Tsur own 2.7% of the company.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 2, 2013
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