Shikun & Binui Holdings Ltd. (TASE: SKBN) has won the tender for constructing the IDF's new intelligence compound at Likit in the Negev. The project is on a PFI (private finance initiative) basis, and the company will finance, plan, construct, operate and maintain the compound for 26 years, at a total cost of billions of shekels.
The Intelligence Corps compound at Likit is the last and most complex of the tenders that the Ministry of Defense has issued in the process of moving IDF bases southwards. Three bidders reached the final stage of the tender: Electra-Minrav, Shapir, and Shikun & Binui. The winning company is expected to complete financial closing and the planning of the project by the end of 2021.
The intelligence compound will stretch over 2,500 dunams (625 acres), and will be constructed next to the Omer industrial park.
From 2026, most Intelligence Corps units will serve at the base - some 12,000 soldiers, about 5,000 of them serving in the career army.
Boaz Levy, General Manager and Executive VP of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Systems, Missiles & Space Group, said, "IAI is proud to partner with Shikun & Binui for the construction of the intelligence campus. The campus is part of a strategic initiative by the Ministry of Defense and will contribute to Israel’s strength. IAI, through its MALAM division and TSG, a subsidiary of the Systems, Missiles, and Space Group, will provide the full gamut of computer infrastructure services for the new campus. The advanced technological infrastructure we are providing will meet the IDF’s operational needs in the coming years. This win adds to the other numerous IAI activities in the main computer infrastructure project that is an integral part of the IDF’s move to the south of Israel."
Shikun & Binui is controlled by Naty Saidoff. Its share price is up by about 8% on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange this morning.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 13, 2020
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