Investment house Altshuler Shaham announced today that the public company in the group, Altshuler Shaham Finance (TASE: ALTF), headed by Yair Levinstein, had signed an agreement for the purchase of the business of CrediTeam, which holds a license from the Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings Authority for the provision of credit.
Under the agreement, Altshuler Shaham will pay NIS 27 million to buy the platform from its two founders, Gil Topaz, who in the past was CEO of Bank of Jerusalem, and Hagar Peretz Dayan, formerly VP Digital and Strategy at Bank of Jerusalem and manager of strategic collaborations and corporate development at Bank Hapoalim. The business will be managed through a new company, Altshuler Shaham Credit, in which Altshuler Shaham Finance will hold 80% and Topaz and Peretz Dayan 10% each.
Altshuler Shaham’s decision to go into non-bank credit at this time may seem surprising. High interest rates and the Swords of Iron war, now entering its ninth month, have led to a substantial decline in demand for credit.
An encouraging sign however is that the banks are not increasing their credit loss provisions, and some have begun to reduce them. In addition, Altshuler Shaham is looking to the Bank of Israel, which is pushing for competition to the banks, and to the NIS 1.2-1.3 trillion in total credit to the economy, and believes that a big bang in credit is possible.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 10, 2024.
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