Three months after, Zadik Bino officially ceased to be the controlling shareholder in Paz Oil Company Ltd. (TASE:PZOL), following an off-floor transaction in which he sold 0.2% of the company's shares for NIS 8 million. Bino is now parting with over half of his holdings in the company, in a huge deal expected to give him NIS 705-920 million.
Paz reported that through Bilo Holdings, Bino last Thursday sold 12% of Paz's share capital (1.2 million shares) at NIS 590 per share, reflected a 5% discount on Thursday's market price, for a total of NIS 705 million. The deal reduced Bino's holding in Paz from 23% to 11%.
In the framework of the deal, another block of shares amounting to 3.5% of Paz's capital was sold at the same share price for a total of NIS 215 million. Bino's Australian partners in Paz, the Abeles and Liberman families, will have to decide in the next two weeks whether to exercise their right to join the deal. If they decide to refrain from selling all or part of their stakes, the extra shares will come from Bino's stake, which could push Bino's proceeds from the deal up to NIS 920 million.
Paz stated that Bino had undertaken, "not to sell Paz shares for three months from the date on which the deal was signed, and to refrain from selling Paz shares at a price lower than the adjusted share price for 12 months after the signing date."
The deal, one of the largest sale of shares carried out in the local capital market, was carried out by Leader Capital Markets Ltd. (TASE:LDRC) subsidiary Leader Underwriters, under its new owners - its managers, who acquired the company in recent months from Leader Holdings and Investment. Bino controls First International Bank of Israel (TASE: FTIN), which owns 20% of Leader Capital Markets. The most prominent of the buyers of Bino's Paz shares was Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd. (TASE: CLIS), which spent NIS 300 million for its shares in Paz.
Trading in the Paz share was heavier than the usual turnover, with the price dipping 0.5-1% to NIS 565, following a 4% drop in Thursday. The share has been stable this year, reflecting a NIS 5.7 billion market cap for the company and a NIS 640 million value for Bino's remaining holdings in it.
Since Bino became the controlling shareholder in Paz in late 1999, the company has generate an enormous value of nearly NIS 4.5 billion for him. Deducting his estimated NIS 1.2 billion investments in Paz, mostly in buying his shares, Paz has created a cumulative NIS 3 billion in value for him.
Most of the this amount was in the form of dividends distributed to Bino by Paz and sales of some of his holdings in the company, mainly in recent years. Since 2013, Bino has sold shares in the company on several occasions for a total of NIS 1.9-2.1 billion, including the current sale (depending on whether his partners join the recent deal).
In addition to his remaining Paz shares, Bino also controls First International Bank through FIBI Holdings Ltd. (TASE: FIBI). The current value of these shares is NIS 870 million.
Bino and his partners ceased to be the controlling shareholders in Paz when their combined stake fell below 30%, as required under the Promotion of Competition and Reduction of Concentration Law. This law, which took effect at the end of 2013, meant that Bino and his partners had to choose between retaining their holding in a non-financial asset (Paz) and retaining their holding in a financial asset (First International).
Following the sale, the control permit granted to Bino in 2006 is canceled, and the new control permit given to Paz in August allowing that company to continue owning the Ashdod oil refinery, even though it has no controlling shareholder, goes into effect.
As soon as Bino was no longer the controlling shareholder in Paz, he resigned as chairman of that company, and his children, Gil Bino and Hadar Bino-Shmueli, left the Paz board of directors. This marked the end of an era in the company, 17 years after Bino acquired a controlling interest in Paz in late 1999.
In addition to its ownership of the Ashdod oil refinery, Paz markets and sells refined oil products.
Managed by CEO Yona Fogel, Paz recently completed a NIS 1.1 billion bond issue in two series: one at 1.9% linked interest, repayable by 2028, and one at 3% fixed interest, repayable by 2022.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 18, 2016
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