The stock market may be booming but the Initial Public offering of Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI) (TASE: ARSP.B1) on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) has stalled. Sources inform "Globes" that the offering, which would bring in $1 billion in share sales to the state's coffers, is stuck due to foot dragging by the Ministry of Justice, on the issue of confidentiality and an exemption on the obligation to report on classified activities.
As far as is known this issue as well as the requirement for the workers committee to sign a collective agreement is preventing the completion of IAI's draft prospectus, which was supposed to be ready at the end of February. No future date has been specified for the completion of the draft prospectus and there has also been a delay in choosing the underwriter to support the offering although capital market sources still believe that the auction will end in the coming weeks, on schedule.
IAI has been intensively moving towards a public offering for the past two years with what seemed like the final bureaucratic hurdle surmounted in November 2020 when the ministerial privatization committee approved the sale of 25% of IAI's shares to the public at a valuation of close to $4 billion.
IAI's IPO has generated huge public interest and TASE CEO Ittai Ben-Zeev has told "Globes" that he hopes the offering will be open to international investors.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 15, 2021
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