ISRAEL 
HIGH-TECH & INVESTMENT REPORT

from the November 2001 issue


Against the Odds: Given Completes its IPO


On October 4 the Israeli Given Imaging, (Nasdaq:GIVN) led by Lehman Brothers, completed its Initial Public Offering. The investment banking firm lost its headquarters in the September 11 terror attack on New York City's World Trade Center. Lehman moved into various quarters including a hotel but continued to work with the assistance of cell phones. Just prior to the attack, Given Imaging was on its "road show", presenting itself to potential investors, but only after September 11, the decision was taken to continue.

Since not a single IPO's had come to Wall Street since August, the IPO was hailed "as an accomplishment that the deal managed to get done, since IPO's lately have been withdrawn on a daily basis in the face of withering market conditions".

"We all pulled together, it symbolizes that we won't be stopped and we'll keep going. But we were lucky to have a company as strong as Given," said Gary Weinstein, managing director of Lehman.

Given Imaging raised $60 million by selling 5 million shares, despite not having any sales, often a requirement for companies going public. In the first day of trading on October 4 Given Imaging closed at $12.47, below its opening price of $12.60 but well above its $12 offering price. It hit a high of $13.44 and a low of $12 on volume of 3.9 million shares.

Given was founded in 1998 by Dr. Gavriel Meron, who previously worked at Applitec Ltd., an Israeli designer and manufacturer of video cameras and systems for the medical endoscopy market. Given Imaging's technology enables patients who swallow the wireless video-camera-in-a-capsule, to give doctors a close-up view of their small intestine, in color, as the capsule winds its way through the body, without causing discomfort.

The company plans to post its first revenue numbers by the end of the year, after winning approval for the technology both in the U.S. and Europe, he said.

The FDA cleared th use of the "pill", but only in conjunction with standard intestinal examinations, in which tubes fitted with cameras are inserted down the throat and into the intestine.

Each Given Imaging pill is priced at about $450. The computer workstation adds $20,000 to the total hardware cost.

Given Imaging recorded a loss of $7.5 million last year with revenues expected in the fourth quarter of 2001.


Reprinted from the Israel High-Tech & Investment Report November 2001

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