Tomer’s IPO Plans: Government Companies Authority Pushes Forward Amid Market Skepticism
The Government Companies Authority aims to take the defense firm Tomer public within two to three years. However, capital market experts remain skeptical due to corporate governance challenges and the company's classified nature.
The Government Companies Authority is interested in taking another defense company public, but the market is skeptical. At a conference of government companies held yesterday at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Roi Kahlon, director of the Government Companies Authority, revealed that Tomer will be the next link in the chain of government companies whose shares will be issued on the stock exchange and offered to the public within a range of two to three years.
Tomer is a government defense company established in 2015 as part of the split of IMI Systems. The company specializes in the development and production of rocket propulsion systems and manufactures, among other things, engines for Arrow missiles, artillery rockets, and satellite launchers. In the first stage, according to Kahlon, the company will issue institutional bonds on the TASE UP platform, which is intended only for qualified and institutional investors.
Although Kahlon's words suggest that Tomer's bond issuance is just around the corner, Calcalist has learned that the issuance process has been underway for over a year. The difficulty in issuing debt stems from Tomer becoming a transparent company whose data is all published. To reduce the challenge, it was decided to issue bonds on the TASE UP platform, which is intended for private companies. Companies on the platform do not become public and are not subject to all the reporting obligations of the Securities Law. However, they are committed to a certain transparency, including the publication of audited annual financial reports.
According to data revealed by Kahlon, Tomer has annual revenues of 650 million shekels and a net profit of 41 million shekels. Its sales in 2024 amounted to about 550 million shekels. At the end of 2025, Tomer paid the state a dividend for the first time at a rate of 50% of its profits, amounting to about 18 million shekels. Kahlon added that the output per Tomer employee is projected to reach 1 million shekels by the end of the decade, indicating the company's maturation for public listing.
Despite Kahlon's assertiveness, leading underwriters have raised questions regarding Tomer's ability to become public. "The company knows how to build missiles, there is no argument about that, but corporate governance and approved financial reports are a different business," explained a senior underwriter. Alongside market barriers, there is a security barrier; Tomer is considered a classified company, and its market exposure requires approval from the Ministry of Defense and the government, which is unlikely in the coming months due to the elections scheduled for October 27.
Tomer responded: "The company has been in the process of issuing institutional bonds for several months to secure funding for business growth, with the support and approval of the Government Companies Authority and the Ministry of Defense. Regarding the issuance of its shares, as far as this is supported by the Ministry of Defense and the Companies Authority, Tomer will act accordingly."
