RNS Number : 5862F
Sivota PLC
19 July 2021
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19 July 2021
SIVOTA PLC
("Sivota," or "the Company")
Admission to the Official List and first day of dealings
Sivota, an investment vehicle focused on later-stage, reputable
Israeli technology-related sectors, announces the proposed
admission of the Company's Ordinary Shares to the standard segment
of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and to
trading on the main market for listed securities of the London
Stock Exchange under the ticker SIV (the "IPO"), and the
publication of its prospectus.
The IPO consists of the conditional subscription of 1,035,000
new ordinary shares at a placing price of GBP1.00 per share (the
"Issue Price"), with trading in the Company's enlarged issued
ordinary share capital expected to commence no later than 22 July
2021. On admission there will be 1,085,000 ordinary shares in
issue. Canaccord Genuity Limited is acting as Broker to the
Company.
Sivota has been incorporated for the purposes of seeking to
invest in and enhance technology-related companies which are based
and/or founded in Israel, or have a significant presence in the
region, and which present significant investment opportunities.
Highlights :
-- A clear focus on acquiring Israeli-founded technology businesses
- Generally, Sivota will seek to invest in later stage,
reputable, Israeli technology companies with existing fundamentals
to drive fast, ambitious and sustainable scale
- The Company will also consider investment in traditional
"offline" businesses where, with the application of digital
transformation introduced by Sivota, there is the significant
potential for growth
-- A highly experienced and entrepreneurial management team
- The members of Sivota's management team all have hands-on
operational as well as investment and M&A experience in various
jurisdictions, having worked for small and medium sized businesses,
both as managers and owners
- The board includes Tim Weller, non-executive chairman, who is
also founder and chairman of Incisive Media, chairman of Trustpilot
and Pixomondo and was recently chairman of Tremor International,
Superawesome and TI Media; and Ziv Ben-Barouch, CEO, who has
experience in working with and leading technology companies in the
Israeli market, having acted as co-founder and managing partner of
Pereg Ventures, a US-Israeli venture capital firm which invests in
B2B data companies, since 2013
-- Leveraging Israel's position as one of the most entrepreneurial countries in the world
- Israel has produced technologies which have been adopted
across the globe including, among others, self-driving systems,
navigation apps, website builders, and innovations in
cybersecurity, insurtech, fintech, gaming, agriculture, and digital
health
- Its competitive edge stems from its informal, but effective,
get-down-to-business culture, exceptional ingenuity and
entrepreneurial spirit, supported by multinational corporations,
innovative start-up companies, and growth companies
- Israel's tech ecosystem has ranked third globally in the new
Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021
- Israel's tech sector broke a new capital-funding record , with
firms raising a total of $10.5 billion since the start of 2021,
mostly from foreign investors, per Pitchbook.
-- A significant opportunity to create a unique investment vehicle
- The Company intends to function as a platform to leverage the
huge business potential between Israel and Europe, identifying
lucrative investment opportunities, supporting growth and
development
- The large number of innovative, later stage tech companies in
Israel offers foreign investors a broad selection of
opportunities
- There may be potential to acquire or invest in companies that,
due to the inability or desire of management to apply technology
solutions to a traditional business model, are missing out on
potential growth
-- Strong local presence and an expansive business network in Israel
- Sivota has a strong local presence and an expansive business
network in Israel. The Company believes that these networks,
relationships, and partnerships are all essential for identifying
future investments and developing a robust investment pipeline
-- A strong focus on acquisitive growth
- Sivota's management team will generally seek to invest in
companies which have most, if not all, of the following
attributes:
-- later stage of growth;
-- organic and/or external growth potential;
-- unique technology;
-- Israeli-related/founded companies;
-- international exposure/potential; and
-- existing management with ability to contribute to growth and success.
-- A clear strategy for execution
- Sivota has developed a clear methodology including a
strategic, operational and financial diagnostic plan to apply to
companies following their acquisition, after which, Sivota
will:
-- focus initially on the growth and then expansion of the target company;
-- bring in specialists who combine deep sector knowledge with
foresight that comes from experience;
-- bring in the support of investors and leadership;
-- enhance management on a temporary basis with Sivota's
industry partners and professionals; and
-- involve management and employees.
Admission and Dealings :
-- The Company's market capitalisation on Admission, based on
the Issue Price, will be approximately GBP1.085 million.
Tim Weller, Non-Executive Chairman of Sivota, commented:
"Through my many years working with Israeli technology
entrepreneurs, I have experienced first-hand the success that can
be generated when UK business is combined with Israeli-related
technologies, and significant opportunity continues to exist in
bridging this gap. Sivota brings a unique business proposition to
the London market and a team with the requisite expertise to
execute on our exciting plan.
"We look forward to capitalising on a number of exciting
near-term prospects and believe our London listing provides an
ideal structure to create a highly scalable investment vehicle to
generate meaningful growth and returns."
Enquiries:
Sivota PLC via Vigo Consulting
Tim Weller, Non-Executive Chairman
Ziv Ben-Barouch, Chief Executive Officer
Canaccord Genuity Limited + 44 (0) 20 7523
Alex Aylen - Head of Equities 8000
Vigo Consulting
Jeremy Garcia / Antonia Pollock + 44 (0)20 7390 0230
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Directors
Tim Weller (non-executive Chairman)
Tim Weller is a successful entrepreneur. He is the founder of
Incisive Media and its chairman. He successfully floated Incisive
on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in 2000 and in 2006
he led the GBP275m management buyout which took the company private
again. Tim has more than ten years' experience chairing and
investing in public company and private equity backed businesses.
He was non-executive director and chairman of RDF Media from
2005-2010 and was also non-executive chairman of Polestar from
2009-2011 until its sale to Sun European Partners LLP. Tim was
independent non-executive director and chairman of Tremor
International between 2014 and August 2020. He was chairman of TI
Media, one of the largest consumer magazine and digital publishers
in the UK from April 2019 to May 2020 following its sale to Future
Plc. He is also chairman of Trustpilot, a leading provider of
trusted company reviews, and was chairman of Superawesome, a
company with leading technology that powers the global kids'
digital media ecosystem until its sale to Epic Games in September
2020. Mr Weller was a member of the Shadow Cabinet New Enterprise
Council, which advised the then Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer,
George Osborne, on business and enterprise prior to the 2010
General Election, and was voted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of
the Year - London in 2001. In 2005, he received the publishing
industry's top honour - the Marcus Morris award.
Ziv Ben-Barouch - CEO
Ziv Ben-Barouch is an experienced operator and leader with
decades of experience in finance and investments within technology
companies. He has a proven track record of leading corporate
turnarounds, M&A, IPOs, and strategically guiding companies as
they build their business. Ziv is the co-founder and managing
partner of Pereg Ventures, a US-Israeli Venture Capital Firm
focused on B2B data companies, backed by investments from Nielsen,
a world leader in marketing intelligence, the Tata Group, and other
leading financial institutions. At Pereg, Ziv has lead and
participated in the direct investment of 13 early stage technology
companies that have raised a combined excess of $250M in follow-on
investments from leading investors and lead on the disposal of two
portfolio companies to NYSE listed counterparties. Prior to
founding Pereg, he was senior principal and CFO at Viola, a
technology-focused investment group with over $3 billion assets
under management. Before joining Viola, Ziv was the CFO of SpaceNet
Inc., a specialty telecommunications company providing managed
network solutions by satellite and terrestrial technologies for
business, government and residential users in North America. He
lead SpaceNet's turnaround and participated in SpaceNet's parent
company's $70m NASDAQ listing. Ziv has key relationships with
Israeli and international investment firms in the technology space
which he will be able to leverage to assist Sivota. Ziv is an
Israeli Certified Public Accountant.
Neil Jones (non-executive director)
Neil is currently chief operating officer of Huntsworth Group,
and Divisional CEO of Huntsworth Communications, the specialist PR
communications Division of the Group. Huntsworth is an
international healthcare and communications group, which was taken
private by Private Equity Group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in May
2020. Neil took these positions in October 2019, having previously
held the position of chief financial officer at Huntsworth since
February 2016.
Neil has held senior financial positions for over 20 years, the
majority of which have been with public companies in the United
Kingdom. Prior to Huntsworth he was CFO of ITE Group plc (now Hyve
plc), a FTSE listed international organiser of exhibitions and
conferences and before that he was group finance director of Tarsus
Group plc, another international trade exhibition organiser. Neil
is also the senior independent director of Tremor International, an
AIM listed Ad-Tech company. Neil is a member of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, qualifying with PWC
in 1990, and he sits on the ICAEW Corporate Governance Committee.
Neil also has significant experience in M&A transactions having
completed a large number of acquisitions in his career, many of
which involved cross-border elements. In his current role at
Huntsworth Neil leads M&A and has completed 4 transactions in
the past 12 months. Acquisitions in which he has been involved
include Tarsus' acquisition of Speic SAS (France) in 2007, ITE
Group's acquisitions of ChinaCoat (China), Beauty Eurasia (Turkey),
Scoop (UK) and Indobuiltech (Indonesia) in 2013-2014 and
Huntsworth's acquisitions of Cormis in June 2020 and Nucleus Global
in November 2020.
Acquisition Targets, Sourcing and Execution
Sivota, through the directors, has a strong local presence and a
significant business network in Israel. The Company believes that
these networks, relationships, and partnerships are all essential
for identifying future investments and developing a robust
investment pipeline. In particular Ziv Ben-Barouch's and Tim
Weller's track-records and networks will enable the Company to
execute its strategy.
The Company will look to acquire companies with strong
fundamentals that the directors believe will reward Investors over
time. The general investment strategy is to acquire controlling
stakes in underperforming, later-stage Israeli-related technology
companies to ensure fast, ambitious and sustainable scale. The
directors intend to function as key partners to the target
companies during both the acquisition process, and in the
implementation of the growth plan post-acquisition.
Although the Company will evaluate a range of technology
companies, a particular areas of focus will be in relation to
companies already involved in the data (artificial intelligence,
machine learning, big data), digital marketing, digital
advertising, e-commerce and gaming sectors.
The directors believe that they will have a competitive
advantage in the Israeli market, both in terms of deal flow and the
ability to overcome the culture gap which foreign investors can
face while working with Israeli founders and management teams.
Although the directors will look at numerous potential targets,
generally they intend to evaluate companies which have most, if not
all, of the following attributes:
-- Ambitious revenue-generating companies looking to accelerate
their business and expand worldwide, in particular in emerging
markets
-- Unique technology
-- Israeli-related/founded companies (although non-Israeli
companies can also be evaluated and the Company may execute
acquisitions of such non-Israeli entities)
-- International exposure/potential both to new markets and to
international investors and partners
-- Existing management with ability to contribute to growth and success
-- Underperforming management
Turning around an underperforming company and regaining the
trust of every stakeholder is a job that requires decisive action.
In order to achieve this, Sivota intends to roll out a methodology
based on enhanced transparency and involvement within each target
company.Sivota will start with the preparation of an objective and
uncompromising diagnostic plan (which may be amended from time to
time to take into account any changing circumstances) and share it
without restriction with customers, suppliers, employees, creditors
and any relevant public authorities. This strategic, operational
and financial diagnostic will be the basis of the plan. Any company
in which Sivota acquires controlling stakes will regularly
communicate the progress of its turnaround to all its stakeholders
and implement an equitable distribution of the efforts and benefits
of the plan as follows:
-- Provide active guidance and support to increase their growth
rate and take the business to the next stage of development
-- Bring in specialists who combine deep sector knowledge with
foresight that comes from experience
-- Bring in the support of investors and leadership to back up the plan
-- Involve management and employees in the plan
-- Identify and recruit external talent who can help execute the plan
In putting the diagnostic plan into practice, Sivota will seek
to:
-- Build a growth plan with the Company's management to leverage
opportunity, securing the financing of investments
-- Communicate the strategy, plan and its progress on a regular and clear basis
-- Be thorough with its analysis and due diligence, and present
a pragmatic approach to execution
-- Implement the plan with transparency including engaging in
discussions with employee representatives
-- Help to grow the organisational culture through leadership
The directors all have hands-on operational as well as
investment and M&A experience in various jurisdictions, having
worked for small and medium sized businesses, both as managers and
as owners. The management team has therefore experienced the
financial and operational issues frequently encountered by
companies and know where to go, and how to find, clear unbiased
advice for specific business needs.
The Company intends to implement a Special Advisors Panel of
approximately 5-10 tier-one experienced and strategic advisers,
including a number who will be based in Israel as a resource
available to the Company and to any acquired business. The members
of the Special Advisors Panel will be chosen by the directors, with
the intent that they will be experts in their respective fields
bringing extensive experience, knowledge and networking which will
assist Sivota in achieving its business goals.
The Special Advisors Panel will be able to refer potential
prospects, assist in assessing candidate technologies, provide
coaching and mentoring for entrepreneurs and their management
teams, and provide customer and acquirer introductions.
Although these Special Advisors will not be involved in the
management or direction of Sivota, they will provide exceptional
experience and insights to enhance the management's strategies.
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July 19, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)