Israeli fuel and retail company Paz Oil Company Ltd. (TASE: PZOL) has agreed to acquire neighborhood supermarket chain Freshmarket Ltd. (TASE: FRSM) for NIS 2.1 billion. The deal was agreed after Freshmarket sought to merge with Paz at a similar valuation to the deal that has been agreed. Paz will pay 80% of the amount in cash and the remaining 20% in shares to Freshmarket's owners Shlomi and Yossi Amir, who will continue to manage thew chain for at least the next 12 months. The deal to buy Freshmarket puts an end to Shikun & Binui Energy's efforts to merge Paz within it as part of parent company Shikun & Binui Holdings Ltd. (TASE: SKBN) attempts to gain control of Paz. Paz is managed without any controlling core after former controlling shareholder Zadik Bino sold his shares in the company to institutional investors. As of March 2021, Freshmarket has 41 branches around Israel from Haifa Bay in the north to Beersheva in the south. Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 4, 2021 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021
