Sarin Hails Success of Singapore IPO

Israeli diamond technology company Sarin Technologies said its Initial Public Offering in Singapore last week went according to plan with the company raising slightly more than its target of $9.4 million as it became the first Israeli company ever to float on the Singapore exchange.

On the first full day of trading following the flotation, in which the company floated 62.2 million shares, Sarin's share was the highest traded stock on the Singapore exchange, closing at S36.5 cents (US 22 cents) after starting the day at S35.5 cents and reaching an intra-day high of S42 cents.

"We are very pleased. Everything went very well and even ahead of our plans," said Sarin's Udi Lederer.

Sarin decided to float on the Singapore exchange since around 80 percent of its business is in Asia – particularly India, China, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Around $2 million of the cash raised will be used for Sarin's expansion plans, including potential mergers and acquisitions, acquisition of intellectual property rights and establishing offices in new markets.

Approximately $2.5 million will be invested in product development and infrastructure, of which $1.75 million has been allocated for product development this year.

About $2 million will be used for expansion of production facilities for disposable polishing discs and the rest ($2.9 million) for general working capital purposes.

Among the machines Sarin produces are cut grading tools for round and fancy shapes, rough diamond optimization systems, gemology tools, diamond color grading, and laser marking machines.