Although it has signed a new investment agreement with Delek Group and cancelled its previous agreement, signed in October, with insurance company Menora Mivtachim, credit card company Isracard still has another suitor that has not given up hope: Bank of Jerusalem.
Yesterday evening, the bank, headed by Yair Kaplan, sent an improved offer for a takeover of Isracard, even though the Isracard board examined its previous offer against that of Menora Mivtachim, and preferred the latter.
Bank of Jerusalem is proposing a takeover in a different format from the bids of Menora Mivtachim and Delek Group, namely a share swap deal. Its latest offer improves the ratio in the share swap to 1.15:1. In the offer, after Isracard is merged into the bank, Isracard’s shareholders will hold 60.1% of the merged company (versus 59% in the previous bid). According to Bank of Jerusalem, its offer is 10% better than that of Delek Group, and 28% better than that of Menora Mivtachim.
As in its previous bid, Bank of Jerusalem has published a table showing the value per share that Isracard shareholders should receive, with the addition of a dividend that will be distributed in the framework of the deal. The value is now estimated at NIS 16.2-17.4, an improvement on the NIS 16-17.1 value in the previous bid of December 27. This compares with a value of NIS 14.8 per share in Menora Mivtachim’s bid, and NIS 15.6 per share in the agreement with Delek Group, according to Bank of Jerusalem.
Isracard’s board of directors will probably have to consider Bank of Jerusalem’s latest offer, but it is not clear that it is sufficient to lead it to cancel the agreement with Delek Group. If Isracard decides to proceed with Delek Group, Bank of Jerusalem could resort to legal proceedings, or else give up on its intention of taking over the company.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 6, 2025.
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