As the battle for control Ormat Industries Ltd. (TASE: ORMT) heats up, the company today notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) that the general shareholders meeting scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed indefinitely.
Ormat said that the board of directors decided on the postponement after two candidates for external directors, Zvi Tropp and Azriel Gonen withdrew their candidacies for reelection. They said that they did so "in order to allow the company to present new candidates to general shareholders meeting who acceptable to the majority of shareholders of the company."
The capital market was surprised by the announcement, and believes that it was a tactical move by Ormat's controlling shareholders, the Bronicki family, against Chaim Katzman-controlled Gazit Inc. (TASE: GZIT).
A trader told "Globes", "Ormat is now in a position resembling a chess game in which the Bronickis decided to sacrifice two pawns. Just as a football coach doesn’t resign at his own initiative, neither does a director, and the letter published in their name is evidence of this. Gazit opposed the two external directors on personal grounds, and Yehudit and Yehuda decided to submit different directors to prove that Gazit isn't really interested in replacing this person or that on the board of directors. It's obvious to everyone that the replacement of the external directors isn't the end of the game."
Ormat's share price fell 1.6% by midday to NIS 28.30, giving a market cap of NIS 3.41 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 18, 2010
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