Isranomics Staff | December 15, 2022
A significant event took place on Tuesday as Abu Dhabi's government-owned Development Holding Company (ADQ) agreed to purchase a controlling stake in Israel's largest insurance company, Phoenix (TASE: PHOE).
ADQ is expected to pay $680M to the current shareholders, US investment firms Centerbridge and Gallatin Point Capital. The deal gives Phoenix a value of $2.7B.
A memorandum of understanding was finally inked after several months of negotiations.
The controlling 32.5% stake of Phoenix was acquired by the US investment funds Centerbridge and Gallatin Point back in late 2019 from Israeli tycoon Yitzhak Tshuva's Delek Group. The deal was valued at NIS 1.6 B at the time and the market value of Phoenix was NIS 4.5B. Essentially, their holding has more than doubled in value since then, giving the two funds 100% profit on their investment.
Though the transaction must yet be scrutinised by Israeli authorities, there is a strong likelihood it will be approved. Phoenix handles assets worth NIS 364B and, therefore, the regulatory side of finalising the deal will be fairly stringent.
