The sale will be effected at a consideration of about NIS 26
million.
The finance committee today unanimously approved the sale of the
State's holdings in the Lapidot petroleum company to Petro-Trade,
owned by businessman Bruce Rappaport, at a consideration of NIS 26
million. The sale encompassed about 59% of the company's shares.
The details of the privatisation were presented to the committee
by Adv. Tamar Ben-David, Director of the Companies Authority, who
chaired the tenders committee which last week resolved on the sale.
Ben-David stated that there were two other contenders in the bidding.
Ben-David today explained the reasoning behind the decision to sell
the controlling interest in Lapidot to a single investor possessing
business capability, rather than privatising the company through the
capital market and having its shares distributed on the Tel-Aviv Stock
Exchange. The idea, according to her, was to preserve stability and
labour relations in the company. Ben-David stated that the Lapidot
selling process could serve as a model for the privatisation of other
government corporations.