The sale of Hebrew daily "Ma'ariv" by Nochi Dankner to Shlomo Ben-Tzvi was signed today. The NIS 85 million sale of the newspaper does not include its printing house.
Ben-Tzvi, the publisher of "Makor Rishon" has promised to hire 250 "Ma'ariv" employees. However, the newspaper's employees fear that, following the sale, he will make more layoffs. They fear mass layoffs of most of the newspaper's 1,700 employees. They are also worried that they will not receive in full severance compensation and the newspaper's pension obligations.
"Ma'ariv's" employees this morning met with Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini, who updated them on the Histadrut's (General Federation of Labor in Israel) efforts on their behalf and what the employees' future options are.
Dankner acquired control of Ma'ariv Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MARV-M) for NIS 147 million in early 2011 through IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) subsidiary Discount Investment Corporation (TASE: DISI), and subsequently invested more than NIS 200 million into the newspaper.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 13, 2012
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