Bank Hapoalim is offering to buy the public’s shares for NIS 190 million. The public, which owns 15% of Mishkan Hapoalim Mortgage Bank, can sell its shares at a 4% premium over this morning's share price on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Bank Hapoalim today announced a tender offer to purchase the shares of Mishkan Hapoalim Mortgage Bank. Bank Hapoalim owns 85% of Mishkan, while the public has 15%, including 2% that are held by Bank Hapoalim's provident funds.
Bank Hapoalim is offering to buy the public's shares at NIS 925 per share, a 4% premium over Mishkan's share price this morning on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Mishkan shares are traded at a value that is 2% less than the bank's equity. The total amount of the tender offer to purchase at the offered price is NIS 190 million.
As revealed by ''Globes'', the tender offer to purchase was formulated over a year ago, when Bank Hapoalim petitioned Bank of Israel supervisor of banks Dr. Yitzhak Tal for permission to carry it out. The objective of the tender offer to purchase is to delist Mishkan and convert it into a private company. Bank Hapoalim does not plan to merge Mishkan into its own operations.
Mishkan is Israel's second largest mortgage bank, after Tefahot Israel Mortgage Bank, sharing the rank with Bank Leumi subsidiary, Leumi Mortgage Bank. Mishkan's net profits in the first nine months of the year were NIS 89 million, 25.6% less than in the corresponding period last year. The profit reflects an annualized return on capital of 10.25%. Edith Lusky has been Mishkan Hapoalim Mortgage Bank CEO for the past six months.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 26 November 2001