There is a new and surprising entrant in the race to acquire Israir. He is Amnon Sela, owner of the Amnon Mesilot Group. Sela, together with a partner, intends to bid to acquire Israir, "Globes" has learned. Sela previously met with the former chairman of IDB Development to express interest in buying Israir, but the two failed to agree terms. It is believed that Sela means to offer about NIS 100 million for the airline, which is the sum mentioned by Israir CEO Uri Sirkis in a letter to Israir employees in which he disclose details of the company's activity in the past few months.
A source close to Sela described the bid that will be filed at the last minute as one that will be "respectable" in relation to the amounts already bid. Rami Levy together with Shalom Haim, through listed company BGI, has bid NIS 70 million. The two groups from the UAE that have expressed interest in Israir, Al Habtoor and NY Koen Group, have still not yet submitted bids, and they too will probably do so only on the last day that bids will be accepted by the court-appointed trustee, Adv. Ophir Naor, which is November 8.
Amnon Mesilot is part of the Sela Holdings group, and owns transport company Afikim. Amnon Mesilot was founded in 1968, and provides transport services for organizations, with a fleet of hundreds of buses. Sela himself holds a pilot's license, and flies a helicopter and a private aircraft owned by the company.
Uri Sirkis said, "The many parties that have expressed interest in Israir are an indication of the strength of its business strategy and the way it has been run during the coronavirus crisis."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 5, 2020
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