The Ministry of Finance has announced that the committee for the sale of the state’s shares on Haifa Port has set November 27, 2022 as the date for ministers and the Competition Commissioner to sign off on the sale. In other words, the request of the consortium that won the tender for the purchase of the port, consisting of Indian company Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. and Israel’s Gadot Chemical Tankers and Terminals Ltd., for an extension to the period allowed for financial closing has been granted.
The Ministry of Finance said that the committee’s decision was in the light of the upcoming Jewish holiday period and of the action taken by the consortium so far.
In July this year, the consortium won the tender for the port with a bid of NIS 4.1 billion, about NIS 1 billion higher than the estimated price. Of this, the consortium needs to obtain financing for NIS 2.8-3 billion. It is currently in the process of selecting the bank that will lead the lending consortium, and it is believed that several banks are competing, among them a large international bank with a presence in Israel.
Gadot CEO Opher Linchevski told "Globes" this week that work on obtaining finance was proceeding well and that the request for an extension was purely technical, because of the holiday breaks.
There are those, however, who connect the extension request to the financial position of the Adani Group. On August 23, a Singapore-based company called CreditSights, part of the Fitch group, published a report stating the Adani Group was "deeply overleveraged" after using credit aggressively for acquisitions and expansion of its businesses.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 8, 2022.
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