Premium (PIH) Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PIH), controlled by Yuli Ofer, is in talks to acquire 15% of Leviathan partner Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L) from Shlomi Shukrun. The talks may signal that the dispute between Ratio's controlling partners Yigal Landau, Ligad Rotlevy, and Shukrun is coming to an end.
Ratio owns 15% of Leviathan. Its partners are Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) and Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL).
Premium's share price rose 21% by early afternoon to NIS 1.13, giving a market cap of NIS 51 million. Ratio's share price rose 1.7% to NIS 0.42, giving a market cap of NIS 3.04 billion.
The dispute between Ratio's controlling partner erupted in 2005, when the company applied to raise capital on the TASE, and Shukrun demanded as a condition of the offering that the capital raised cover his all his losses and guarantee his investment. The dispute ended up in arbitration, but six months ago, after 15 meetings, Shukrun succeeded in petitioning the courts to cancel the arbitration on the grounds that Ratio was involved with crime boss Meir Abergil who had dictated the arbitrator appointed in the case.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 1, 2011
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