After immigrating to Israel and receiving citizenship, Kenny Rozenberg has been granted a permit to become the controlling shareholder in El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL), the company has reported.
Control of the airline passed into the hands of his son Eli Rozenberg in September 2020, when his holding company Kanfei Nesharim bought 43% of El Al's shares in a public offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).
Prior to the takeover by Eli Rozenberg, the previous El Al board of directors had tried to prevent his ownership by claiming that he was acting as a 'straw man' for his father, a US citizen, who was in practice the purchaser. Because of the 'golden share' in El Al held by the state, only an Israeli citizen can be the controlling shareholder in the national airline.
Kenny Rozenberg immigrated to Israel in March 2021 and received citizenship, paving his way to taking over from his son as the owner of El Al.
El Al, which will report its first quarter financial results tomorrow, notified the TASE today that Kenny Rozenberg and Eli Rozenberg had received consent from the state shareholder to control the airline together through Kanfei Nesharim.
Earlier this month, the Israeli cabinet approved an economic rescue plan for El Al, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which includes injecting $210 million into the airline from the Ministry of Finance as an advance payment for air tickets for security personnel over the next 20 years.
As part of the plan, El Al will also be required to purchase another $42 million in shares, bringing the total investment of the Rozenbergs in the airline to about $200 million.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 19, 2021
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