Bank Leumi swapped its 5.92% stake in Israel Corporation for shares in Israel Chemicals.
Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) officially notified the Tel Aviv Stock exchange this morning that it had divested itself of its holding in Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO), controlled by Idan Ofer. The bank reported that last Thursday, in an off-floor transaction, it sold 451,252 Israel Corporation shares (5.92% of the company's share capital) in exchange for 17,906, 037 shares in Israel Chemicals (TASE: ICL: NYSE: ICL) (1.4% of the share capital), an Israel Corporation subsidiary.
In 2015, Bank Leumi made several sales of Israel Corporation shares in order to reduce its exposure to one of the largest holding companies in the Israeli economy. The bank held a stake in Israel Corporation for sixteen years.
Israel Corporation's share price has fallen steeply in the past few years, among other things because of the difficult situation in the shipping industry, which weighed on subsidiary Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.. The holding in Israel Chemicals is more liquid, and since Bank Leumi will hold less than 5% of the company, it will not come within the definition of a party at interest and will not have to report on further transactions in its shares.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 24, 2016
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Rakefet Russak-Aminoach