Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) notified the Tel Aviv Stock exchange this morning that, yesterday, its board approved an agreement to sell land that the company owns at Mesubim Junction in central Israel to Naimi Towers Ltd. or its subsidiary.
As previously reported in "Globes", the land in question (the Sakiya site) is zoned for 350,000 square meters of offices and parking spaces. The fair value of the land was estimated last year at NIS 460 million, and the sale will give Bezeq a capital gain of hundreds of millions of shekels. The sale process is NIS 497 million, with potential to reach NIS 550 million.
It was reported in October that Bezeq sought bids for the land from Bayside Land Corp. Ltd.(Gav Yam) (TASE: BYSD1), Azrieli Group Ltd. (TASE: AZRG), and Tidhar. Bezeq is interested in leasing back from the buyer 35,000-50,000 square meters of built space on the land, and in transferring its head office there from the Azrieli Center in Tel Aviv.
Bezeq is currently renting 17 floors in the Triangular Tower in the Azrieli Center, amounting to half of the tower's space (22,400 square meters). The Bezeq-Azrieli Group Ltd. (TASE: AZRG) lease was signed in 1999, and Bezeq has since exercised options to extend it, with the current lease period due to expire at the end of 2020. Since Bezeq is an anchor tenant in the tower, it currently pays a significantly lower rent than the market price.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 9, 2018
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