Businessperson Teddy Sagi bought a 3.36% stake in Dexia Israel (Public Finance) Ltd. (TASE:DXIL) when the bank's controlling interest was put up for sale last month. Dexia yesterday published a list of shareholders holding more than 1% of its shares. The list shows that Norisha Holdings, company incorporated in the Virgin Islands, bought 3.36% of Dexia Bank's shares. The company is held by a trusteeship of which Sagi is the sole benificiary.
Sagi is one of Israel's wealthiest and most liquid businesspeople with an estimated worth of $3.5 billion. He recently achieved a good exit from the sale of real estate company Brack Capital Properties NV, and it was reported yesterday that he had acquired an office building in central London for £200 million.
Parties at interest in Dexia Bank include hedge fund Noked Capital, controlled by managing partners Roy Vermus and Shlomi Bracha, which currently holds 4.87% of the bank with a market value of nearly NIS 30 million,
Other parties at interest include investment institutions Phoenix Insurance with a 4.3% stake, Yelin Lapidot (4%), and the Analyst investment house (3.9%).
Dexia Bank, whose market cap is nearly NIS 600 million, specializes in credit for local government. Until recently, it was controlled by international firm Dexia, which has wanted to sell its branch in Israel for a long time. Last month, the parent company unexpectedly decided to disperse its controlling interest in Dexia Bank through the TASE, and sold 60% of the shares at once. The main buyers in this transaction are being revealed now.
Before the Passover holiday, Bank of Jerusalem announced that it had asked Dexia Israel to merge with it, after having offering a merger in the past. Bank of Jerusalem hoped that the parent company's sale would restart a merger, bu it now appears that the way to a merger with Dexia Israel will require approval from Sagi, Vermus, and other institutions.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 11, 2018
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