IPO = Israeli pizza offering

Moldawsky Group subsidiary Global Brands is planning a London public issue.

Is another IPO bubble developing on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM)? Judging by the number of announcements by companies planning to hold issues or raise money on London's capital market, the answer could well be yes. Milim Writing and Translation Services Ltd and Beyond Technologies Ltd are expected to float soon on London's OFEX; Ex Libris Ltd and Rapac Technology (2000) Ltd (TASE:RPTC) subsidiary Orpak Industries (1983) Ltd are heading for the AIM, while Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Ltd subsidiary online gaming company 888.com is expected to float on the London Stock Exchange by the end of the month.
Another company joining the queue is Domino's Pizza's master franchisee in Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, Global Brands SA. In contrast to its Israeli colleagues mentioned above, this is not Global Brands' first attempt to hold an IPO on the AIM. It tried to hold an IPO last April, but was forced to wait for the summer vacation to pass and for the next wave of issues to begin. '' In April, we first announced our plans to hold an IPO, and initiated procedures, but summer than arrived, the market died, and were forced to wait,'' said Global Brands CEO Dov Lachovitz.
Global Brands, a subsidiary of the Moldawsky Group, is expected to raise $6 million at a company value of $ 16 million, after money, by the end of September. In April, the company planned to raise the same amount at a higher company value. ''The company value was estimated at the time at £ 10 million ($18.3 million), but is now estimated at £ 9 million ($16.4million),'' said Lachoviz. British investment house Ruegg & Co.Ltd is the underwriter, investment house Hichens, Harrison & Co. is the broker, and Amir Raveh's MG Equity Partners is the advisor. Global Brands is now on the second week of its road show. Trading in the share is due to begin on September 29.
Moldawsky Group is one of Israel's most successful privately owned business groups, owned by its co-general managers Boaz and Yossi Moldawsky serves as chairman of Global Brands.
Global Brands acquired the Domino's Pizza Swiss franchise in 2000, and now operates seven branches in the country. Lachovitz said the proceeds from the IPO would only be used for opening new branches. ''We plan to expand the chain to a minimum of 30 branches by the end of 2007. We're also considering entering other markets in Europe, and penetrating other brands into Switzerland, '' he said. Global Brands has a logistics center and headquarters in Switzerland, in addition to the pizza franchises.
Global Brands has 300 employees. It posted a net profit of $560,000 on $6 million in revenue in 2004. Lachovitz said the company had a profit margin of 23% per branch, considered quite high compared with other franchisees.
In advance of its pending IPO, Global Brands held at $ 1 million pre-issue financing round from British investors. Lachovitz said the round was held at a lower company value than the planned IPO. He predicts that investors in the pre-issue round will make a 25% return on their investment.

September 13, 2005,Tali Tsipori ,Globes