Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL) is in talks to sell Manhattan's Clock Tower Building for $170 million. The company did not disclose the name of the potential buyer.
Africa-Israel said that, if a deal is closed, the debt of its subsidiary AFI USA Inc. will be reduced by $64 million, and it will see a net cash flow of $93 million. There will neither a profit nor loss on the deal.
Africa-Israel bought the Clock Tower at Madison Square Park for $200 million in 2007. The landmark Clock Tower was built in 1909 as the headquarters for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The 213.5-meter tall 26,000-sq.m. tower was added to the original 1893 building to make it the tallest in the world at the time. The Clock Tower was modelled after the clock tower of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, and its four bronze bells, sounds off Händel every fifteen minutes during the day and the evening. The interior decor comprises 14 murals by painter Newell Covers Wyeth.
Last week, AFI USA sold nine floors of the old New York Times Building in Manhattan to Blackstone Group LP (NYSE: BX) for $160 million.
Africa-Israel's share price rose 0.6% by mid-afternoon to NIS 27.86, giving a market cap of NIS 2.92 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 5, 2011
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