Pulling the trigger on a London initial public offering (IPO) just as the Omicron variant is hitting global markets is not conducive to restful slumber.
Just ask Ami Daniel, co-founder and chief executive of Israeli artificial intelligence and data analytics company Windward, which raised £34.5m ($46m) on the London Stock Exchange on 6 December.
"It's been a rocky market in the last few weeks. You can imagine I wasn't sleeping until it actually happened," the CEO told TradeWinds.
"It's not necessarily related to you, right, it's basically the world," he added.
On the morning the shipping cyber specialist decided to go for the transaction, stock markets lost 4% in 30 minutes.
No reverse gear
So was he ever tempted to pull the offering?
"I don't have that function in my head that we can't do this," said Daniel. "It's a blessing and a curse!"
"If I quote my chairman [former BP boss John Browne], hopefully the IPO is the cheapest anybody would ever get the stock," the CEO added.
Windward saw strong demand for its shares from investors for what was an over-subscribed deal.
"We didn't take all the demand that there was, we don't think that's the right thing to do," Daniel explains.
The listing on the AIM board of the London Stock Exchange saw the stock debut at £1.62, compared to an offer price of £1.55.
Asked what made the company opt for London, the ex-navy officer explained that the UK capital is a major shipping centre.
Shipping-savvy
"We looked at many options. The London market gets our company beautifully," he said.
"All the investors have stock in Shell or BP, Clarksons or Braemar, the shipping companies, the banks, BHP," he added.
And he said: "They get how we make money. Investors can't back you if they don't understand how you make money."
Windward spoke to dozens of investors and 95% got the company intuitively in five minutes, the CEO said: "'Oh that's what you do, that's great'."
Taking the plunge in the London capital markets is a long-term thing, Windward believes.
"You don't list a company in London and go away in six months," Daniel said.
Likewise, he and co-founder Matan Peled are in it for the long-run. "We're absolutely long on this company. 90%-plus of our holding, we've kept it," he added.
