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Elgadcom sells entire 42% Leadcom stake for $53 million
By Efrat Neuman Last Update: 12/03/2006 11:35
It was classic move of creating value for shareholders and exiting, says chairman Moshe Shushan
Leadcom Integrated Solutions (LSE: LEAD.L) stock has surged 130% since its London initial public offering in April 2005, spurring one major group of shareholders to cash out. Brothers Moshe and Eli Shushan, Gad Selok, and Dov Slook, who own the controlling interest in the Elgadcom group, have sold their entire 42% interest in Leadcom for $53 million, which was the market value of the shares.
The four founded Leadcom in 1983 and had actually never put any money into the company, which means the entire consideration for their shares is a capital gain.
The buyers are foreign institutional investors, including Merrill Lynch.
At the IPO, Elgadcom sold about $3 million worth of Leadcom stock.
Leadcom chief executive Arik Alcalay and other company officers also sold some shares. Alcalay sold 1.35 million shares for $1.7 million and the chief financial officer Eytan Mucznik 355,300 shares for $450,000.
Leadcom plans, builds and manages complex communications projects, mainly for the cellular sector but also for wireline. In April the company raised $23 million according to a company valuation of $58 million.
Its 2005 revenues were $97.4 million, an increase of 47% from 2004, when it made $66.2 million revenues. It netted $7.5 million in 2005, almost triple its profit the year before.
On Monday, Leadcom announced winning contracts in Liberia and Tanzania that would be worth between $13 million to $15 million, and recognizable within 2006. The projects include Leadcom's undertaking of turnkey responsibility (equipment and services), for the planning, design, supply and implementation of telecom sites, and for the supply of microwave transmission equipment.
Leadcom has several foreign institutional investors among its shareholders, including several Fidelity funds, Cramignac Gestion, and Invesco.
Elgadcom chairman Moshe Shushan commented that it was a classic move of value creation and exit after achieving a 130% return for shareholders. "Leadcom today is in an excellent position and the institutional market also believes it's a good buy," he said. "It is quite rare for a sale like this to take place at the market price, without the institutionals receiving a discount."
He also said the company means to accelerate business at the group companies and enter new areas, including real estate.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/articleDetails.jhtml?sw=leadcom&itemNo=692295