Israel's Optibase Ltd. has
dropped plans for an initial public offering (IPO) on France's
Nouveau Marche in favor of a NASDAQ flotation, a company
adviser said on Tuesday.
"In my opinion things didn't change that much, but the
underwriters are convinced (a NASDAQ offering) is possible in
the current situation — NASDAQ has been hot in the past
month," Edouard Cukierman told Reuters.
In December Optibase, a digital video technologies
developer, said it was planning an IPO on France's Nouveau
Marche because the company was too small for the NASDAQ.
Optibase has a valuation of $60 million.
Cukierman said the company now believed the current climate
on NASDAQ made it amenable to smaller companies. "Two months
ago the NASDAQ was closed — today it is open," he said.
Optibase intends to raise $25 million through an offering of
about 24-30 percent of the company's equity.
Cukierman said higher liquidity, better exposure and greater
familiarity with Israeli high-tech industry make the NASDAQ the
exchange of choice for high-tech IPOs.
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin and Needham & Co are managing the IPO
while Nomura and Oddo are planning to market 20-25 percent of
the offering to European investors.
