Monday, August 06, 2007
Aug. 6, 2007 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) --
Once upon a time, there was a company called Sunlight Ltd., which developed lasers. The company raised $30 million and generated $9 million in sales during its heyday, and planned an IPO. But the timing was wrong, and while waiting for the timing to be right, the company accumulated heavy expenses, fell into debt, and was even on the point of closing down.
This is by no means an unusual tale, but Sunlight may be making a comeback in the guise of BeamMed Ltd., which incorporates a number of medical technologies. Besides serving as the vehicle for Sunlight's return, BeamMed is the Israeli distributor for Syneron Medical Ltd. (Nasdaq: ELOS) and has a rather eclectic range of other activities, all of which are related to medical equipment.
BeamMed is managed by Moshe Avishai, formerly head of marketing at communications equipment maker Lasercom, which raised $70 million, but sank when the high-tech bubble burst. Avishai was asked to join Ammo Engineering Ltd., another laser development company, to set up a medical laser business. 'They told me, if within two years you show signs of success in establishing a company, we'll finance you,' he says.
Avishai's first stop was Syneron, then a small company seeking a distributor in Israel for its aesthetic laser devices. 'I had the impression that a company that only dealt only in distribution would never make it big, and we wanted to add something,' he says. He found the addition in Sunlight, without its debts but with it operating system and network of 40 distributors worldwide. The company was acquired for a few hundred thousand dollars for inventory and 5 percent of sales.
Sunlight had several products. One was a hand-held device to test calcium levels using ultrasound, instead of X-rays, and could be used by private clinics. This device had reached the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pre-market approval (PMA) even before BeamMed's takeover. Another ultrasound device tested the age of bones, which could determine a child's final height. This product was halted during the registration process, but the company believes that it can be registered within three months. A third device is a platform that measures stability, and can assess whether a person's weight tends towards one side, indicating a propensity for falling and breaking bones.
An Italian distributor recently sold this complete package of products to a Milan football club for testing players it is considering signing up.
BeamMed took the unusual decision not to buy Sunlight's R&D department, which the company's founders might have considered its strong point. Avishai thinks that the company's strength is its marketing and enterprise resource planning system. 'They bought most of their interesting products outside, anyway,' he says.
BeamMed's first choice was neither in lasers or ultrasound developers, but Sal-Med Ltd., which computerizes hospitals. BeamMed acquired 50 percent of this company, and then introduced it to an Italian designer to create differentiation in both the software and visualizations. Avishai is not worried that there is no connection between ultrasound and the design of computer wagons for hospitals, or that the markets for the products are unrelated.
'Globes': Don't you need financing to acquire a company of this size?
Avishai: 'We have a Dutch partner who doesn't like to share his business with many partners. We've had offers from underwriters to go public in Israel, but we told that we'd hold an IPO when it was possible, but we think that we'll be able to get a much higher valuation in two years.'
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