Gov't starts selling further 5% stake in Discount Bank

The winning bid from nine foreign investment banks will be announced tomorrow morning.

After the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) closed this evening, the Ministry of Finance began selling a further stake of at least 5% in the government's holding in Israel Discount Bank (TASE:DSCT).

The Ministry of Finance approached nine foreign investment banks that will be given an option to purchase the holding.

The winning bid will be chosen tomorrow morning at about 9am.

As part of the privatization process, the Accountant General will commit not to sell any more of the government's holdings in the bank over the next three months. After this sale the government will no longer have a core holding in Israel Discount Bank because its stake, currently at 11.66%, will fall below the 10% threshold determined by the Bank of Israel.

The Accountant General has decided to sell all the government's holdings in Israel Discount Bank. After the full stake is sold, the government will only be left with holdings in Bank Leumi (TASE:LUMI).

The government was encouraged by the success of its previous sale of Israel Discount Bank shares at the end of July when UBS bought an 8.33% tranche for NIS 553 million.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 25, 2010

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010

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