A TMX Group sign, the company that runs the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), is seen in Toronto, June 23, 2014.© Mark Blinch / Reuters
TMX Group Ltd. is expanding its equity listings business into Israel, as it tries to court new issuers from around the world onto its two exchanges and continue to grow beyond Canada's borders.
The company has hired Yossi Boker to lead its business development efforts in Tel Aviv, adding to an international team that has a presence today in New York; Houston; Palo Alto, Calif.; London; and Beijing. Mr. Boker, who spent more than 25 years in Israel's high-tech sector, is tasked with promoting the Toronto Stock Exchange and junior TSX Venture Exchange, and fostering and nurturing relationships with companies, bankers, lawyers and others in the Israeli business community.
TMX is targeting Israel because the country is known for having a vibrant technology industry – and the company's exchanges are aiming to bolster their innovation franchises in a bid to be less reliant on the cyclical mining sector.
"There's an enormous number of small innovation companies and larger firms in Israel that can benefit from listing in Canada and tapping into that North American capital pool," said Shaun McIver, the chief client officer at TMX. "We feel it's important to have someone in our key strategic markets on the ground, connecting with the local ecosystem and having that pulse on the market."
Mr. McIver, who was in Israel just last week, says that Mr. Boker will be trying to convince companies of all sizes that they can reach investors located across North America through Toronto.
Eighty-five per cent of the 422 technology and innovation companies listed on the TSX and TSXV are based in Canada. More than 80 per cent of them are small- and mid-caps. Many of them have recently tapped the Toronto markets, with 375 of these issuers raising a total of $23-billion from 2014 to 2016. And during this time, almost 60 per cent of these companies raised money more than once.
As of April, there were six companies from Israel listed on the TSX and the TSXV, with a market capitalization of about $3-billion. When TMX considers new listings from abroad, it tends to focus on companies that have a market cap of at least $50-million, Mr. McIver added.
TMX insists that it can be a Canadian-based business with global reach, bucking the trend of consolidation in the exchange space.