Historic moment: After almost 90 years of operation, 1,306 Egged shareholders decided tonight to approve its sale to the Keystone Infrastructure Fund. Today (Tuesday) the meeting convened in Zum and during which the shareholders of the company were required to approve the deal, on which they worked at the Keystone Fund for many weeks, including during Passover. According to the outline of the transaction, the Keystone Fund acquires up to 60% of the public transportation company at a value of NIS 4.77 billion. It will also give Egged shareholders an option to sell the rest of their holdings to it over a number of years, at the same value.
● The CEO of the fund that buys Egged explains why the high price pays off
● Played in both teams: This is how the teachers and kindergarten teachers received a “discount” of about NIS 1 billion in the purchase of Egged
Egged’s sale process was in fact required by the state as part of an agreement signed by the parties in 2018. Egged conducted a complex sale process in which many entities competed, when in the end the offer that came in first place, submitted by the Carasso-Migdal-Aluma group, which gave Egged a value of NIS 5.6 billion, later fell through.
According to market estimates, Egged’s shareholders’ equity stands at NIS 1 billion, so this offer also reflects a very high value for the company of almost 5 times the capital. Assuming the sale of full ownership at this value, each Egged member will pocket a sum of more than NIS 3.5 million, still a significantly higher amount than the expectations that accompanied the sale.
Keystone, an infrastructure fund set up by CEO Navot Bar together with a pair of financiers Gil Deutsch and Roni Biram (founders of Excellence Investment House) has already made a NIS 360 million down payment on the purchase, when Egged shareholders approved the deal, at a special meeting Who gathered today.
Ahead of the meeting, Egged’s management conducted an orderly procedure of disclosing information about the Keystone Foundation’s plans to the company. For Egged’s shareholders, a unique and dedicated information room was opened that included a great deal of information, and in fact an internal procedure was carried out to present them with the outline of the emerging transaction.
For the Keystone Fund, the Reit Fund in the field of infrastructure that is simultaneously invested in the fields of energy, desalination and other holdings, this means that it must now work hard and achieve the financial stitching of the acquisition of the public transport giant. The fund whose shares are traded on the stock exchange today closed the trade at a value of NIS 765 million. This means that its fund has managed assets worth NIS 1.3 billion, now a complicated financial task remains and it is to “swallow” a monster that is very large in terms of its value, in relation to it.
In an interview with Globes, the CEO of Keystone Bar estimated that there would be no serious problem in getting more partners into the deal. By Pesach Landsberg, as part of the deal in question. The ‘teachers and kindergarten teachers’ as they are called by the institutionalists, have already flowed over a quarter of the first cash payment required in the deal and are an integral part of it.