The U.S. is even more of a global capital market than many realize. Not only do foreign companies list on U.S. exchanges but scratch beneath the surface and even ostensibly American companies may be surprisingly exotic. For some of these issuers, their American veneer comes at some cost, reflecting that it is often a matter of necessity, and not subterfuge. The phenomenon of foreign-owned/American incorporated companies has quietly mushroomed and may be headed for its own cottage industry. While the pattern’s by no means exclusive to Israel, this article will focus on companies with Israeli or Chinese pedigrees; in a couple of interesting cases, they’re both.
Israeli companies incorporating in the U.S. today may not recognize themselves tomorrow. For every business that begins as a Pawnbroker’s Exchange, another ends up as a wastewater treatment concern. Software companies somehow evolve into suppliers of body armor. Some companies see the writing on the wall; they fully expect to merge or be acquired and they disclose as much in their filings. Many of these companies appear to leap through a back door into a complex world without appreciating the exacting costs and burdens of public listing.
But who are these companies and what do they do? Chances are they incorporated in Nevada or Delaware in late 2006 or 2007. They may be in the pharmaceutical industry, clean tech, or some kind of defense or law enforcement supply. It’s likely a developmental stage company not yet profitable. It may have already been acquired by a Chinese outfit. More often than not, the business line will have departed—radically—from its initial path.
via “Foreign Private Issuers”: U.S. Corporations With Exotic Pedigrees.
