Sources inform ''Globes'' that Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, has acquired the controlling interest in Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) shareholder Cohen Development & Industrial Buildings Ltd. (TASE: CDEV) from the Tadmor family. Delek unit Avner is a partner in Yam Tethys, Tamar, Leviathan and other offshore natural gas licenses.
Gideon Tadmor, the former CEO of Avner's direct parent company, Delek Energy Systems Ltd. (TASE: DLEN) owns 6.3% of Cohen Development; his mother, Hannah Tadmor owns 18.8%; his uncle David Cohen owns 19.2%; and another relative, Rona Arlitzki owns 6.7%. Gideon Tadmor will make NIS 105 million from the sale.
Cohen Development is a beneficiary of Avner's revenue from Yam Tethys, and it will be a beneficiary from future gas sales from Tamar, Leviathan, and other fields. The company still owns an office building in Petah Tikva's Kiryat Arie high-tech zone from its previous business as a real estate developer.
Delek Group directly owns 9.1% of Avner, and subsidiary Delek Energy owns 46.58%. The acquisition should benefit Delek Group, as the acquisition of Cohen Development's stake will give it an absolute majority in Avner. This will enable Delek to revalue its holding, which is currently listed at a low value, and record a large capital gain.
Delek Group declined to comment on the report.
Cohen Development's share price fell 0.2% today to NIS 53.46, giving market cap of NIS 351 million. The share price has risen 15% since it announced that the Tadmor's were in talks to sell their holdings in the company.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 22, 2011
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