Clal Industries, owned by Len Blavatnik, plans to offer its 30.45% holding in beverages company Jafora and to list for trading on the stock exchange slightly less than half this holding, it is believed at a company valuation of NIS 2 billion.
The rest of the shares in Jafora are held by public company Kerur Holdings Ltd. (TASE: KRUR), which is now required by Clal Industries to decide within 30 days whether it intends to buy that latter's holding in Jafora in full, and at what price it is interested in doing so.
Kerur Holdings stated in a notice to the stock exchange, "The company will examine Clal Industries' notification." Clal Industries has already filed a prospectus with the Israel Securities Authority, and the flotation is currently scheduled for late May, unless Kerur buys the shares.
Jafora holds 100% of Jafora Tabori, which in turn holds half of Ein Gedi Mineral Water. Jafora is one of the 20 largest suppliers in the Israeli consumer products market, with 1.7% of that market and a 2% share in the barcoded food and beverages market, according to data from Storenext. Its sales totaled NIS 717 million in 2017.
Jafora Tabori is one of the three largest beverages producers in Israel, after the Central Bottling Company (Coca Cola Israel) and Tempo. Its sales totaled NIS 949 million in 2017, similar to the figure for 2016. According to Kerur Holdings' financial statements, on the basis of data and estimates, taken partly from a report by Nielssen, Jafora's share of the light beverages market was 26% in 2017, in financial terms.
Jafora is valued on Kerur Holdings' books at NIS 1.8-2.1 billion.
Jafora distributes in Israel and the Palestinian Authority brands such as RC Cola, Schweppes, Spring, Crystal, and Tapuzina. It has an exclusive distribution agreement with Mei Eden for bottled products.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 3, 2018
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