Sources inform "Globes" that Poalim IBI Underwriting and Investments (TASE: PIU) is set to lead an IPO by Roman Abramovich and Oded Kobo's Shellanoo Group, which is developing apps for smartphones and online services. Shellanoo is planning to raise tens of millions of shekels. The lawyer for the offering is Adv. Israel Shimonov.
The media recently reported that Abramovich and Kobo were interested in acquiring Golan Telecom Ltd. from Michael Golan, whose deal to sell the company to Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) did not go through.
Oded Kobo founded Shellanoo in 2014. The son of businessman Bebo Kobo, he is described on the company website as "an acclaimed Internet entrepreneur and businessman with over 20 years of experience and success in the sector." The website adds, "Over the last two decades, his business interests have ranged from telecom to Internet to private equity to property, with over $1 billion in exits." The company has several dozen employees in its Herzliya offices.
As far as is known, Shellanoo has raised $35 million to date. Its biggest financing round was $30 million in April 2015, led by Abramov with $15 million, for the Music Messenger app, which facilitates the trading of songs between friends and connections. Other investors in the round included several leading people from the global music industry, among them Will.i.am, David Guetta, Tiesto, Nicki Minaj, Avicii, Benny Andersson (formerly of ABBA), and super-agent Gee Roberson (former chairman of Geffen Records).
The company website says that its board of directors consists of Kobo, Abramovich, and Roberson, and declares,"Shellanoo Group is a technology company specializing in mobile applications, artificial intelligence and online services." The company home page adds, "The Company is currently valued at approximately $200 million by BDO and is scheduled to go public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in October 2016."
Given the drought in IPOs on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), its leaders have been taking action for some time to attract technology companies for offerings, but these efforts have so far been of no avail. 10 days ago, a share offering by Vonetize, which distributes video on demand (VoD) for television and smartphones, was called off, after even a deep cut in the offering price did not help it get offers from local investment institutions. This was preceded by a unsuccessful attempt by young cyber company Safe-T, which was later merged into an existing stock exchange shell.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 17, 2016
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