IPO AlternativesIPO Alternatives

The TASE is the “home market” for Israeli companies. Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on the TASE have numerous advantages.

Companies offering their shares to the public for the first time (IPOs) must follow one of three listing alternatives, per type: Company, R&D Company, Limited Partnership. 

Listing Companies

The TASE’s listing rules and regulations set forth the criteria, which a new company must fulfill, such as:
  • Shareholders’ equity
  •  Public float
  •  Minimum distribution of its securities.
    The objective of the rules is to ensure a minimum level of potential liquidity for the securities after the IPO.
  • The rules also establish a lock-up period after the issue for shareholders prior to the IPO.
Under the Securities Law, companies are required to have one type of shares.
 

Listing Procedures (excluding R&D companies)

Companies interested in an IPO must at least comply with the criteria under one of the alternatives in the following table (numbers are in NIS millions):

 

Procedure 1

Procedure 2

Procedure 3

Procedure 4 ​

Shareholders’ equity AFTER listing

25

35

-

​-

Public-float value

20

30

80

​125

Period of activity

12 months

12 months

-

​-

Added value in the 12 months preceding listing

4

-

-

​-

The value of the public float which is derived from the shares issued to the public according to the offering prospectus on which the company's application for listing is based

20 (3)

20 (3)

80

​-

Value of the company’s shares

-

-

200

​500

 
Definitions – listing criteria
  1. Shareholders’ equity after listing:
    A.     Shareholders’ equity before listing
    B.     Plus: net offering funds from shares and warrants
  2. Added value: Profit (loss) before taxes, plus payroll expenses, depreciation, and financing expenses, deducting financing income.
  3. Does not apply to companies for which the public float equals or exceeds NIS 40 million

Public - Float Rate in a New Company (excluding R&D companies)

The public-float rate in a new company must be no lower than one of the following alternatives.
 
When the public float value (in NIS millions) is greater than...
The public float rate (%) must be at least...
20
25.0
30
20.0
40
15.0
50
10.0
200
7.5


Minimum Distribution

To comply with the minimum distribution of public holdings, companies must meet the following conditions:
 
Type of security
Minimum number of holders
Minimum value of holding per holder
Shares
100*
NIS 16,000
Convertible Bonds
100*
NIS 16,000
Bonds
35
NIS 200,000
 

Holder” – a holder that exceeds the minimum required holding value per holder as listed in the table; or a holder with others, whose joint holdings exceeds the minimum holding value per holder.

* In a security in which the issue prospectus undertakes the appointment of a market maker, only 35 holders are required.

Lock-up Rules for Shareholders of a New Company (all companies)

 
Blocking period
Earliest date of sale on the TASE
Monthly percent for sale
Major Shareholders
18 months
After 3 months
2.5%
Other shareholder
9 months
After 3 months
12.5%
  1. During the lock-up period the shares may be sold via a tender offer.
  2. Three months after the listing date and until the end of the lock-up period, the percentage noted above of the shares subjected to the lock-up period at the IPO date may be sold by each shareholder. 
  3. Six months after the listing date, shares subjected to the lock-up period may be sold in an off-market transaction, with the buyer undertaking the remaining blocking period. 

Listing R&D Companies

The TASE is aware of high tech companies’ need to raise capital in their early stages, and in recognition of the importance of the high-tech field to Israel, the TASE has laid down rules to enable R&D companies to offer shares to the public under particularly lenient terms.

R&D companies are not required to present a certain period of activity or level of shareholders’ equity prior to their IPO. The minimum public-float rate is relatively low, making it easier for R&D companies to raise capital on the TASE at an early stage in their life cycle, with relatively little dilution of the founders’ holdings.

An IPO on the TASE can serve as a convenient stepping-stone to an additional issue on NASDAQ and other stock markets, as the company matures. The Dual-Listing Law on NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX or the London Stock Exchange enables companies that initially issued on the TASE and later listed in the U.S.A. or U.K. to report according to U.S.A. or U.K. reporting rules, so that they are not required to report under two different sets of rules.
The TASE's TA Global BlueTech index helps to increase the exposure of technology companies traded in Tel-Aviv to the investing public.
 

Special Listing Rules for R&D Companies

An “R&D company” is:

  • The company invested in research and development, in a period not exceeding the three years preceding the date of the financial statements pursuant to which the listing application is being filed, a sum of at least NIS 3 million, provided that the investment was recognized as an investment in research and development by the Israel Innovation Authority or the company invested in companies held by it, which engage in research and development, a sum of at least NIS 5 million, provided that these investments were recognized as investments in research and development by the Innovation Authority.
  • The company’s main area of activity must be research and development, or the production and marketing of products resulting from its own research and development.

The public-float rate in a new R&D company must be no less than specified in one of the following alternatives:

When the public-float value (in NIS millions) is greater than...
The public-float rate (%) must be at least...
16
10.0
50
7.5

Additional criteria

  • Shareholders’ equity after IPO – NIS 8 million.
  • The minimal capital raised from the IPO is NIS 16 million. This requirement does not apply to companies for which the public float equals or exceeds NIS 40 million. 

Public Float Rate

The number of holders of shares in R & D companies was reduced, and the number of holders required is 35, with a minimum holding value of NIS 16,000. The minimum dispersion required for the other securities in R&D companies is identical to that required in a regular company.
 

Lock-up Rules

The lock-up rules applicable to shareholders of an R&D company are the same lock-up rules that apply to other companies.

Listing Limited Partnerships

Area of Activity

Limited partnerships operating in one of the following areas may list on the TASE:
  • Oil or gas exploration
  • Film, video or television production and marketing
  • R&D

General Partner's Investment

Before units of a limited partnership can list for the first time, the general partner and its controlling shareholder must buy partnership units, in cash, at the same price at which the units are allocated to the public, in one of the following alternatives:
Public Holdings Value
The Investment Value
Less than NIS 60 million
NIS 10 million or 20% of participation units and securities convertible into participation units whichever is lower
Between NIS 60 million and NIS 100 million
NIS 15 million or 15% of participation units and securities convertible into participation units whichever is lower
​More than NIS 100 millionNIS 20 million or 10% of participation units and securities convertible into participation units whichever is higher
 
The percentage holdings of the general partner, and its controlling shareholder, before the initial listing for trade of the participation units, shall not be less than 10% of the total participation units and securities convertible into participation units that are being listed for trade, even if the price stipulated in the tender is higher than the minimum price.
 

Minimum Percentage and Value of the Public's Holdings

The public-float value of partnership units after listing must be no less than NIS 20 million. 
The public holdings percentage, after the listing for trade, shall not be less than as stipulated in one of the following alternatives:
Where the public holdings value is:
The public holdings percentage shall be at least:
NIS 20 million and more, and less than NIS 40 million
50%
NIS 40 million and more, and less than NIS 60 million
30%
NIS 60 million and more, and less than NIS 100 million20%
​NIS 100 million and more15%​
 

Lock-Up Rules

The lock-up rules applicable to the holders of limited partnership units are the same lock-up rules that apply to shareholders of a new company.
 

Listing Forms

 

 Additional Information