Sources inform "Globes" that Chinese company Fosun International this week submitted an official request to Supervisor of Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings Dorit Salinger for authorization to held a controlling interest in The Phoenix Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1;PHOE5), which also controls the Excellence Investments Ltd. (TASE: EXCE) investments house.
The request is an essential and advanced stage in gaining permission to control an insurance group in Israel. At the same time, there is no guarantee that Fosun's deal with Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) will be completed, or that the Ministry of Finance will grant the potential buyers a permit.
Last January, Delek Group, controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding for the sale of the controlling interest in Phoenix to Fosun at a company value of NIS 3.7 billion (corresponding to the company's equity, plus interest). The deal is for the acquisition of 42-52.3% of the shares in Phoenix, managed by CEO Eyal Lapdiot.
The deal was priced at an equity multiple of 1, the same as in a previous deal for sale of a controlling interest in Phoenix to the US Kushner family - a deal that was never completed.
Israeli businesswoman Batia Tocatly was the matchmaker between Delek Group and the Chinese investment company. Last year, she brought Li Haifeng and a group of Chinese buyers together with IDB Development Corporation Ltd. (TASE:IDBD) in a deal for the sale of a controlling interest in Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd. (TASE: CLIS), which ultimately failed.
The submission of an official request to the Supervisor of Capital Markets, Insurance, and Savings indicates that Fosun wishes to complete the deal for the acquisition of an Israeli insurance company, after having acquired similar business in Portugal and the US, where it has obtained the relevant local regulatory approval.
Fosun, a non-government company incorporated in Hong Kong, was founded in 1992 by four students. In recent years, it has made several major acquisitions outside of China, including the Club Med international hotel group and a large Portuguese insurance company.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 31, 2015
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