US
investor buys 10 percent of Silicom Robert Mark Sussman
says he does not want to take over the company and has made
no demands on it
The managers of Kfar Saba-based Silicom Ltd. (Nasdaq:SILC;
TASE:SILC) are undoubtedly asking if a takeover attempt
of the company is in the offing, after discovering that
a US investor bought 10 percent of it in recent months.
Robert Mark Sussman began buying Silicom shares early
this year, and has reached a 10 percent holding. Only
the company's co-founders Yehuda and Zohar Zisapel own
larger stakes: Yehuda owns 15.6 percent, and Zohar 12.9
percent.
Silicom, a subsidiary of the RAD Group, develops, produces
and markets network connectivity solutions, and has a
market cap of $33 million. The company's share has fallen
27 percent since January, after achieving a yield of 200
percent in 2005. The company became profitable last year,
after four years of losses, a fact that probably contributed
to Sussman's decision to buy shares.
Documents Sussman filed with the US Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) state that he is acting on his own, and
is not part of any group. He signed a standard declaration
in the first document, stating that the purchases of shares
were not part of an attempt to influence control of the
company. He reportedly has no plans to take over Silicom
or makes changes in its management.
Sources inform "Globes" that Sussman has not
asked to be appointed to Silicom's board or to appoint
a representative on his behalf. He is apparently a financial
investor who manages his own and other people's money,
and views Silicom as an investment opportunity. In some
of the documents he filed with the SEC he states his home
address as New York; in other he gives Arizona.
Silicom posted a net profit of $867,000 on $6.9 million
revenue in the first half of 2006. The company announced
the launch of a new line of information security products
last week, and for the first time said that its customers
included information security giant Check Point Software
Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP).
