Zvi Barenboim today announced the sale of the controlling interest in ZBI Ltd. (TASE: ZBI-L) to a charity, Chabad 770 BV, controlled by billionaire Alexander Granovsky, for NIS 130 million, seven years after acquiring the company from Clal Industries and Investments Ltd. (TASE: CII).
Granovsky owns a conglomerate with construction, hotels, banking, and construction and industrial raw materials interests, which has tens of thousands of employees in Ukraine and scores of partners worldwide.
Over the years, ZBI has distributed more than NIS 250 million in dividends. In September, it will make the final payment on its bond, which was issued to the public in 2005. ZBI's only holding is an 80% stake in BGI Investments (1961) Ltd. (TASE: BGI), which controls clothing manufacturer Bagir. BGI recently completed the sale of Industrial Development Bank of Israel to Menorah Mivtachim Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MORA).
Barenboim said, "I am transferring control to a tier-1 investor, after more than seven years, during which we made conservative investments. These investments yielded the company profits of hundreds of millions of shekels, which were distributed to the shareholders, while balancing their interests with the interests of the bondholders. The company is financially sound, and it is well positioned at this time for future investments by the new controlling shareholder, who has said that he has no intention of setting up activity in Ukraine, but that he will, among other things, invest in activity in the US."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 28, 2012
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