The firm considered an IPO in 2005, but sales didn't take off.
Agrobiology start-up Bio-Oz Technologies Ltd. has ceased operations, despite repeated attempts to keep it afloat. The company is still listed as active in the Registrar of Companies, but sources close to the company say its offices have closed down, and that most of its management and staff have already found other jobs. The company's office phone is still connected but calls are answered by a voice mail system only. Bio-Oz's principal shareholder is Kibbutz Yad Mordechai.
Bio-Oz was once considered a promising company, and in 2005 it was even on the verge of listing on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) at a value of $100 million, an offering that subsequently failed to reach the tender stage. The company, which was founded in 1996, focused on the development of immunotherapy solutions for plant through the use of mild strains of viruses or bacteria, in a similar manner to vaccines for humans. The company managed to bring one product called Agroguard Z onto the market, but the sales were not on the scale that the company had been hoping for.
Bio-Oz's winding up apparently resulted from a combination of business setbacks and a lack of interest by some shareholders, whose desertion ultimately led to a rift between those shareholders who stayed on board.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 27, 2007
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