British businessman William Nagel, a shareholder in Channel 2 franchise holder Keshet, is refusing to join the other shareholders in injecting cash into the company. The shareholders are due to put NIS 40 million into the company, NIS 20 million of which was already injected in 2014, with the other NIS 20 million slated for 2015.
Nagel holds 7.7% of Keshet's shares. He is one of the company's veteran shareholders, having been a partner since its earliest days, after Keshet's first manager, Alex Giladi, proposed that he invest. He initially held shares through a company named Punchline, and transferred the shares to his own name in 2012 with the approval of the Second Channel Broadcasting Authority Council, which verified his financial soundness. Nagel's representative on the Keshet board of directors is former cabinet secretary Zvi Hauser.
Nagel's investment proved worthwhile over the years, until the second Channel 2 tender came along in 2005, when things went wrong. Keshet's profits since then have totaled only a few million shekels, and in some years, such as 2014, it even lost money. In recent months, Nagel retained the services of Rothschild in the UK, and is looking for an investor to take his place in the franchise holder. He is objecting to Keshet management's request for an injection of capital.
Representatives of Nagel and Keshet declined to respond to the report.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 21, 2015
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