A capital market axiom asserts that parties at interest in companies sell high and buy low. During the stock market boom in 2003-07, parties at interest in Israeli companies traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and on Wall Street sold billions of shekels worth of shares. The volume of these sales plummeted to a few hundred million in 2008.
An analysis by "Globes" of transactions by parties at interest during 2008 indicates that their gross sales of shares on the TASE totaled NIS 128.8 million. Gross sales of shares by parties at interest of Israeli companies listed on Wall Street totaled $185.4 million.
The analysis also found that stock sales by parties at interest on the TASE and Wall Street totaled NIS 34.1 billion over the past six years. This figure is the best sign of the stock market boom and the ability of parties at interest to spot opportunities and take advantage of them.
On the TASE, the top-selling party at interest in 2008 was Yitzhak Tshuva-controlled Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), which sold NIS 50.2 million worth of Delek Automotive Systems Ltd. (TASE: DLEA). Delek Auto's share fell 64% this year, and its current market cap is NIS 1.7 billion.
The second top selling party at interest is Tao Tsuot Ltd. (TASE: TAO-M) chairman Ilan Ben-Dov, who sold NIS 35 million worth of shares in Discount Investment Corporation (TASE: DISI) in a private transaction. These two parties at interest were the only ones to sell shares for more than NIS 10 million.
TAT Industries Ltd. (TASE:TAT5) controlling shareholder Dov Zeelim sold shares for NIS 7.1 million, and former Shrem Fudim Group Ltd. (TASE: SFG) controlling shareholder Avigdor Kelner sold NIS 5.2 million worth of shares in subsidiary Greenstone Industries Ltd. (TASE: GRTN).
Noteworthy deals by parties at interest in Israeli companies listed on Wall Street include Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) founder and vice chairman Marius Nacht, who sold $63.5 million worth of shares during 2008, while chairman and CEO Gil Shwed sold $14.9 million worth of shares.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 30, 2008
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008