El Al TASE $150m offering to go ahead Wednesday

El Al 737-900 / Photo: Yoav Yaari
El Al 737-900 / Photo: Yoav Yaari

Eli Rozenberg has said he will buy shares worth $101 million, which would give him control of the airline.

El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) will raise at least $150 million on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange tomorrow. The Ministry of Finance allowed the airline to hold the offering on Thursday but El Al preferred to hold the offering tomorrow and a report to the public will be published later today.

El Al will sell the shares at a minimum price of NIS 0.67.1 per share, slightly below the shares current price of NIS 0.73. El Al will issue 753 million shares in an auction system to whoever bids the highest amount. Over the past few days the company has been conducting a roadshow and meeting with investors with an emphasis on the Israeli market and not the US institutional market as initially planned.

The offering, approved by the Ministry of Finance, follows a protracted, exhausting and controversial process over the past few months. Over the time the Minister of Finance and director general of the Ministry of Finance have changed. El Al had hoped to raise some of the money in a private placement by the Ministry of Finance nixed that plan and insisted that all the money is raised in one go.

After the offering, the government will put up 75% in guarantees for any bank loans that El Al takes or any bonds that it issues up to a sum of $250 million. The government is committed to buying any shares not wanted by the public as long as its holding does not go above 44.99% and it will attempt to sell those shares within 18 months.

However El Al has potential buyers. Eli Rozenberg, the son of US-based businessman Kenny Rozenberg, has said he will by shares worth $101 million, which would give him control of the airline. Another buyer Israeli-Russian businessman David Sapir wants to invest less and share ownership in Knafaim Holdings Ltd. (TASE: KNFM), El Al's parent company. It is not yet clear how he will act tomorrow. A third buyer Meir Gurvitz announced today that he is dropping out of the race to buy El Al.

en.globes.co.il - on September 15, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020

El Al 737-900 / Photo: Yoav Yaari
El Al 737-900 / Photo: Yoav Yaari
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