Maiman spokesman: No haircut at Ampal

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"There will be no balding, no haircut, not even a trim - only a postponement on payment of the principal."

Yosef Maiman's media advisor Zeev Finer told “IDF Radio" (Galei Zahal) today that Ampal-American Israel Corporation (Nasdaq: AMPL; TASE:AMPL) would not ask its bondholders to take a haircut, and that Maiman was only asking for a two-year moratorium on payments of the bonds' principal.

Finer also hinted that Maiman would invest in Channel 10, provided that the government did its share for the struggling TV station.

"There will be no balding, no haircut, not even a trim," said Finer. "Ampal only asked for a postponement in payments on the principal due to the disruptions in natural gas deliveries from Egypt, so that we can pay the debt to bondholders in full. We're not talking about a private deal by Yosef Maiman with the Egyptian government. This was a deal made before the Tamar gas field was discovered and Israel's energy market and government relied on Egypt."

"Galei Zahal" interviewer Reno Tzror asked Finer why Maiman's private company, Merhav Group did not share its dividends from Ampal with Ampal's bondholders over the years, but is now asking them to pay for Ampal's losses. Finer relied, "We're not asking them to share in any losses, which is what Maiman said. There was an event that no one expected - not the government, Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), the investors. No one believed that there would be a revolution in Egypt."

Finer added that, a month before the February revolution in Egypt, S&P gave Egyptian gas exporter East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) (in which Ampal owns a 12.5% stake) a high rating for its $1 billion debt issue, and praised the company's gas project.

Asked if Ampal would offer interest for the postponement on the bond payments, Finer said, "We will make a fair and pertinent proposal for negotiations that will be held with the bondholders. I promise that we'll find the formula in the talks that will best serve the interests of both Ampal and its bondholders."

Asked if Maiman would be able to solve his business problems, Finer said, "Of course he can. We're ready to arrange for the delivery of Egyptian gas, or we'll seek legal action."

As for Channel 10, which is on the verge of closing down, after the government refused to postpone repayment of its NIS 45 million debt, Finer said, "Channel 10's owners injected NIS 1.3 billion into the station. The station has never been profitable. The shareholders paid the government NIS 280 million in income taxes, despite the losses. In other words, the government gave Channel 10 the right to lose money and to pay income tax. The shareholders have done more than they could be expected over the past decade, and it's not possible that the owners should care more about 3,000 jobs than the government."