Israeli income producing property company Azrieli Group (TASE: AZRG) is selling a 1% stake currently worth NIS 330 million. The Azrieli family is selling the shares for Canadian regulatory reasons related to its philanthropic activities through the Azrieli Foundation. The shares will be sold over three months with Discount Capital as the lead underwriter.
Shopping malls and offices giant Azrieli Group is controlled by the three daughters of the late David Azrieli - Danna Azrieli who serves as chairman and her sisters Sharon and Naomi through Canadian corporation Azrieli Holdings, which owns 55.6% of Azrieli Group. The stake is worth NIS 18.6 billion. The family has a further stake worth NIS 4.8 billion in Azrieli Group through two philanthropic funds - Azrieli Foundation, which is registered in Canada, with an 8.55% stake in Azrieli Group. The second fund Azrieli Foundation Association, is registered in Israel and holds a 5.7% stake in Azrieli Group.
According to the share donation agreement according to which this association received its shares from the family, it is forbidden to change the shares (disposition) for a period of 10 years from the date of receiving the
The philanthropic fund that will carry out the current sale currently owns Azrieli shares with a market value of NIS 2.8 billion. As far as is known, the sale of the shares stems from reasons related to regulation in Canada, and is intended to maintain its status as a philanthropic foundation.
The last time the Canadian fund conducted a significant sale of Azrieli Group shares was in March 2016, and it was carried out in order to increase the public's share to 30% of the company's shares in order to secure its place in the TASE flagship Tel Aviv 35 Index. In that distribution, 5% of the Group's shares was sold for NIS 900 million - a stake that is currently worth NIS 1.65 billion.
Azrieli's share price has fallen 7% over the past year. Revenue in the first half of 2022 was up 131% to NIS 1.14 billion and estimated profit from assets was NIS 853 million, up from NIS 214 million in the first half of 2021.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 5, 2022.
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