Eliahu sold the shares through IBI Investment House.
Shlomo Eliahu today sold a block of shares in Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) for NIS 200 million. IBI Investment House Ltd. (TASE:IBI) distributed the shares to foreign investment institutions. Half the sale will be made in off-floor transactions at the market price. In exchange for the some of the shares, Eliahu bought shares in other banks.
To ease the pressure on Bank Leumi's share, which increased sharply after his first attempt to sell, Eliahu promised not to sell any more Bank Leumi shares for three months. Today's sale reduced his holding in the bank to 8.5%.
Eliahu must sell his Bank Leumi stake, which he owns through Shlomo Eliahu Holdings Ltd., in order to acquire the controlling interest in Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MGDL). The sale will also help finance the acquisition. Reports yesterday stated that he rejected several offers from capital market sources to buy the Bank Leumi stake for NIS 900 million, because the offers were at a discount of a few percent on the share price.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 18, 2012
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