Thursday , Oct 14, 1999 Sun-Thu at 18:00 (GMT+2)
High Tech News
Software House Jacada to Raise $54 Mln
Tomorrow in IPO at $216 Mln Value
By Eliav Alalof
Jacada, a Herzliya software house, is expected to raise $54
million tomorrow on Wall Street at a value of up to $216
million. The company will offer the public 4.5 million
shares at a price of $10-12 per share. The IPO will be led
by US investment bank Lehman Brothers, with
Oppenheimer and SG Cowen as co-managers.
The company has an interesting battery of shareholders: US
investment house Goldman Sachs, which after the issue will
hold 9.9% of the shares worth $21 million; the Star venture
capital fund, which will hold 9.4%, worth $20 million;
Gidon Hollander, joint founder and general manager, who
will hold 6.6% worth $14 million; his brother Yossi
Hollander, formerly one of the owners of New Dimension,
with shares worth $10 million.
Hollander pocketed $200 million from the sale of New
Dimension to US software house BMC. Venture capital
funds Jerusalem Pacific Ventures, managed by Erel
Margalit, and Gemini, managed by Ed Mlavsky, and
co-founder Nimrod Gilad, also hold shares in the company.
The company was founded in 1990, and was formerly
known as CST. It has developed a software system that
upgrades organizational computer systems (mainframe or
AS 400) in large corporations. Such systems have many
terminals connected to a central computer.
This configuration has several limitations, among other
things the obsolete terminals, usually with green and black
screens, and the inability to access the Internet. Jacada's
software makes it possible to upgrade the terminals to color
screens, and facilitates Internet access. It represents a quick,
cheap, low risk alternative to installing a new computer
system.
Incidentally, for the purposes of the issue, Jacada is
described as a company "whose products enable
e-commerce via the Internet." Just to make it sound sexy,
you understand.
Jacada has demonstrated impressive sales growth. It sells
software to Mitsubishi, Boeing, Toyota, Lockheed Martin,
among others. In the first half of 1999, its sales totaled $6.3
million, compared with $4 million in the corresponding
period in 1998. Its 1998 revenue was $9.5 million,
compared with $5.6 million in 1997. Jacada made a net
loss of $2.9 million in 1998, but is expected to end 1999 on
a small profit.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on October 14, 1999
HERE'S MY TAKE-This stock came public today and closed at ONLY 11 1/16 DUE TO MARKET VOLATILITY-WATCH!!!!!!!! |
