The government today sold 5% of Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) held through MI Holdings (State of Israel Properties) to Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB; XETRA: DTEG).
Market sources told "Globes" that Deutsche Bank has been shopping the shares at a price of NIS 8.90, about 2.2% lower than yesterday's closing price. Sources also told "Globes" that Deutsche Bank is not expected to hold on to the shares, but will in fact try to sell them.
The Ministry of Finance did not disclose the price of the shares sold. It will disclose the information this evening, after Deutsche Bank decides whether to exercise its option to buy an additional 3.33% of Discount Bank from the government. The option is valid until 6 pm. The Ministry of Finance also promised not to sell any more Discount Bank shares for at least 90 days, in order to prevent selling pressure on the share price.
The Ministry of Finance announced the sale yesterday, after the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) closed. MI Holdings held 245.1 million Discount Bank shares, 25% of its share capital, before today's sale.
The ten foreign banks that the Ministry of Finance contacted yesterday submitted their final bids in the evening. Participants included HSBC Holdings plc (LSE:HSBA; HKSE: 005; NYSE, Paris: HBC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), and UBS AG (NYSE; SWX: UBS).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 12, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010