Markets in Brief

Chinese company buying Intercure for cheap

Three years after medical device maker Intercure floated on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at a company valuation of NIS 240 million, it's being sold to the Chinese company BCF at a valuation of NIS 16 million. BCF and the South Korean company Hermest Holdings reached an accord with holders of Intercure's B1 and B2 bonds that transfers the controlling interest from the main shareholders to BCF and the bondholders. Hermest and BCF will each inject $2.6 million into Intercure in exchange for 60.7% of its shares at full dilution, after conversion of outstanding bonds into shares. Of the proceeds, Intercure will give $2.1 million to bondholders. (Yoram Gabison )

Mystery buyer of 10% Sarit stake revealed

Apropos oil exploration, a day after Yuli Ofer announced negotiations to buy 10% of the on-shore exploration license Sarit, in the Heletz field, TheMarker has learned that a group headed by Haredi businessman Moshe Hershberg is the mystery party that bought a 10% interest in Sarit a month ago. Lapidot-Heletz announced the transaction in August, but didn't say who was behind the acquisition. The parties with pieces of Sarit now include Hershberg, Lapidot-Heletz, Ratio Oil & Gas Exploration, Modiin and Israel Opportunity. From 1955 to date, the Heletz field has produced 17 million barrels of oil. Known reserves at the site are all but exhausted. The partners are carrying out a diagonal exploratory drill that is expected to be completed at month-end. (Lior Zeno )

Haim Israel warmly recommends Bezeq stock

Haim Israel, head of Israel equity research at Merrill Lynch, likes Bezeq stock. The dividends alone could produce returns of 60% in five years, he postulates. His 12-month price target for the telecom group is NIS 10.60, which is 24% above its opening share price yesterday morning. In his conservative estimate, Bezeq, which belongs to Shaul Elovitch these days, will disburse all its net profit as dividends, representing a dividend yield of 12% a year, while the average for peer companies in western Europe is 7%. Risk-free interest in Israel is running at 5%, which translates into a spread of 7% for Bezeq, compared with a spread of 4% in Europe, Israel estimates. With figures like that, he thinks Bezeq one of the best buys in the European telecoms sphere. (Tal Levy )

Brainsway to conduct trials at McGill Univ.

Brainsway has signed an agreement with the Douglas Mental Health University Institute at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, to carry out clinical trials testing the efficacy of its Deep TMS technology, for two purposes. One is to treat major depression and the other is to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia, Brainsway says. The trials will be double-blind with a control group. Brainsway will be providing the equipment for the tests, which will be returned at the end of the trials. Douglas will bear the costs of the trials, other than the costs of functional MRI testing at the second phase of each trial to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment, the company says. It is negotiating to conduct trials of the technology's efficacy in treating Alzheimer's and eating disorders, it adds. (TheMarker )

Commtouch buys antivirus unit of Authentium

Commtouch has closed on the purchase of the Command Antivirus division of Authentium, a Florida-based company, the company said yesterday. The Command Antivirus suite product includes technology protecting surfers against viruses, spyware, Trojans and other online threats, Commtouch says. (TheMarker )

Maalot ratifies BBB + rating for Ten

S&P Maalot has ratified a BBB + rating for the gasoline retailer Ten's bonds. The credit rating agency noted that competition intensified during the second half of 2009, and that Ten is a relatively small player. But its operations stayed steady in the first half of 2010 compared with the other retailers, Maalot said. The agency upgraded its outlook for Ten from Stable to Positive. (TheMarker )

Radcom repays debts seven months early

Nasdaq-listed Radcom has paid off its remaining debt to the Plenus Venture Lending Fund seven months early. Radcom's original credit line, granted in 2008, was $2.5 million. CEO David Ripstein called the repayment a milestone that exemplifies the changes the company has gone through over the past two years. "The increase in revenues and the return to profitability are the clear result of the recovery of the telecom industry," he said. Radcom helps telecom firms with network fault management, performance monitoring and analysis, and troubleshooting. (Nir Zalik )

Israel Opportunity buys Pelagic licenses stake

Israel Opportunity, the oil exploration partnership founded by the Halman-Aldubi investment group, has signed an agreement to buy 10% of the six deep-sea exploration licenses held by the Pelagic Exploration Company of Wyoming. Israel Opportunity is paying $2.5 million for a share in the licenses of Ishai, Aditya, Lela, Yahav, Yoad and Aila, which Pelagic acquired in March. Altogether the six areas span about 2 million dunams. The sites are 170 kilometers west of Haifa and border the Gal and Ratio-Yam sites, which are part of the Leviathan field. After the acquisition, Israel Opportunity will have shares in eight licenses and permits. The agreement cites Pelagic as the operator. Israel Opportunity will bear its share of costs related to the sites. (Vadim Sviderski )

	Alon Glazer
	Photo by: Eyal Toueg