Israeli ISP Internet Gold and
three other companies Thursday formed a joint venture chartered with creating an
online brokerage and financial services Web site for the Israeli market.
Firms joining Internet Gold (IGLD)
in the venture include Nessuah Zannex Ltd, A.B. Watley Group Inc. (ABWG), and IFAT Holdings. A total of $1.75 million was injected into the new company as an initial investment.
Each of the partners holds a 25 percent stake in the venture; however,
Internet Gold has the option to bring its stakehold to 50 percent if the
company goes public, changes equity control, or within a two-year period.
The foursome has not yet recieved the permits required for Internet-based
stock trading, and has not specified any target date for the site’s launch.
The venture plans to draw on the resources of each of the participants,
whose specialties include research, technology, trading software and
finance-oriented content.
Internet Gold also holds the majority stakehold in the soon-to-be-launched
MSN Israel portal.
“This new partnership represents an important achievement in Watley’s
international expansion strategy,” said Harry Simpson, president of the A.B.
Watley Group Inc, which is a brokerage firm offering two online trading
systems.
Nessuah Zannex is an Israeli investment and financial services company,
while IFAT Holdings is a investor in the content and Internet arenas. Eitan
Padan will serve as the company’s chief executive officer, following his
work as founder of tech capital fundraising firm P.O.C. Venture Finance.
Padan also has previous ties to Bezeq, Israel’s telecom giant.