Private equity fund KKR & Co. LLC is in talks to acquire The Phoenix Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1;PHOE5) from Yitzhak Tshuva-controlled Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG). KKR executives visited Israel and held three meetings with Delek Group CEO Asi Bartfeld and Phoenix CEO Eyal Lapidot. Delek owns 53% of Phoenix.
A market source told "Globes" that nothing concrete has emerged from the talks, and that the talks have been discontinued for now. The KKR executives did not meet Tshuva, and a price tag never came up.
Delek Group declined to comment on the report.
Phoenix and some other insurance companies are up for sale, in the wake of the Committee on Concentration in the Economy's recommendations. Delek will have to either sell Phoenix, or a non-financial holding, such as its gas exploration business, and Tshuva's choice is obvious. Hence the talks to sell Phoenix, and Delek has been in contact with foreign private equity funds and companies for this purpose.
In a notice to the TASE this afternoon, Delek confirmed that it had been in contact with KKR, but that no offer had been made.
Phoenix and Delek Group's shares fell by mid-afternoon, after initial gains following the media reprots. Delek's price fell 1.6% to NIS 638.40, giving a market cap of NIS 7.3 billion, and Phoenix's share price fell 0.4% to NIS 8.8.54, giving a market cap of NIS 1.9 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 24, 2012
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