In May, Lipman's stock shares rose 65%--does anyone know why?
While the shares have been increasing since October of last year, the abrupt jump in the beginning of June caused some to take notice. According to a statement, Lipman is negotiating with "a foreign, unaffiliated company," with the aim of purchasing some of that company's operations, in return for 15% of Lipman's shares. Lipman is mum on who the interested party or parties are.
While Lipman has been doing well in the past few years with their NURIT products, what may be fueling the activity is Lipman's holdings in a company called Wizcom. Wizcom develops and markets an electronic pen that translates text from one language to another.
Wizcom had a successful IPO in Frankfurt after which Lipman posted profits in the first quarter of 1999, mostly due to capital gains from the Wizcom. Lipman is expected to reap additional capital gains in the second quarter as well, due to the April sale of 4% of Wizcom, reducing its Wizcom holdings to 24.8%.
