Rami Levy looks set to become the new owner of Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd.. After the IDB trustee Adv. Ophir Naor chose the bid of Levy's BGI Investments (1961) Ltd. (TASE: BGI), Levy's improved bid was also chosen by 76% of the IDB bondholders. Levy's bid now needs to be approved by the Tel Aviv District Court, which will convene next Sunday to rule on the matter.
Three bids were on the table. BGI has offered to pay Nis 162 million for a 51% stake in Israir. Levy himself will hold 24% and inject his own capital with the bondholders left with a 25% stake, which at a later stage will be converted to BGI shares.
BGI has also stressed to investors that its strong point is the Rami Levy Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing 2006 Ltd. (TASE:RMLI) supermarket retail chain, which contains major economic and synergistic potential. The plan would be for Rami Levy loyalty club customers to accumulate points towards Israir flights and package tours, to buy duty free items at 'Rami Levy' prices and to buy mobile phone roaming services from Rami Levy Communications.
The other bids were from Yigal Dimri, who offered to buy 83% of Israir shares for NIS 140.4 million and to hold an IPO within 18 months. He also offered strategic cooperation with a retail chain with 500,000 customers that would by a 25% stake in Israir. The third bid was from Moti Ben-Moshe through Dor Alon. He offered NIS 130 million for 100% of the shares and an allocation of 2.4% of Dor Alon, with a put option to realize the shares on three potential dates.
Dimri's bid, which initially found favor with the bondholders, was submitted after the deadline and Moti Ben-Moshe had said he would appeal to the Supreme Court if it were accepted.
Another point in favor of Levy is that he has said that he would keep Israir's senior management in place including CEO Uri Sirkis. Dimri has made no such commitment.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 29, 2020
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