Leon Recanati prepares for a control battle over battered Evogene
The battle for the biomed company Evogene is intensifying as Leon Recanati increases his stake to 6.5% with a $400,000 investment. Investors Kfir Zilberman and Ron Yair Peled, holding 16.7%, are pushing for a board overhaul.
The battle for the battered biomed company is heating up. Last Monday, Leon Recanati purchased 800,000 shares of Evogene at a price of 0.5 dollars per share. The businessman invested a total of 400,000 dollars (approximately 1.2 million shekels), increasing his holding to 6.5% of the company.
Recanati’s move follows the actions of investors Kfir Zilberman and Ron Yair Peled, who have accumulated a combined 16.7% stake. They are seeking to replace the management of the company, which is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
Before the sale of IDB to Nochi Dankner, Recanati served as chairman and CEO of IDB Holdings and chairman of Clal Holdings, Azorim, Shufersal, and Delek Israel. In 2003, he founded GlenRock Israel, a family office that manages the Recanati family's capital and invests primarily in technology, life sciences, cyber, and agritech.
On July 26, Zilberman and Peled rejected the company's offer to appoint a single representative of theirs to the board. They are demanding that the board convene a special shareholders' meeting by September 4, 2026, to vote on replacing all incumbent directors — Nir Nimrodi, Adrian Percy, Leon Recanati, Dan Peleg, Yael Margolin, Yoshinori Oikawa, and Ofer Haviv — with new directors: Itay Maroz, Shahar Tzadok, Oz Adler, and Dr. Adi Zulof-Shani.
Furthermore, a proposal to increase the authorized capital from 30 million to 150 million shares will be put to a vote. This move is intended to provide flexibility for capital raising, but will significantly dilute existing shareholders. Following the capital raise, a reverse stock split will be conducted to meet NASDAQ requirements, which mandate a share price above 1 dollar. Zilberman and Peled are proposing a reverse split ratio between 1:2 and 1:15.
In the previous decade, Evogene was traded at a value of about 2.5 billion shekels; today, its market cap is less than 30 million shekels. Over the last five years, the company has lost 354 million shekels, leaving less than 20 million shekels in cash reserves.
