Ma'ariv Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MARV-M) trustees today offered employees of Hebrew daily "Ma'ariv" to buy the newspaper. "Globes" has obtained a copy of the letter to the employees by Adv. Yaron Arbel and Dr. Shlomo Nass, which states that in view of the company's financial situation, they must find a buyer quickly in order to hand it over as a going concern to "whoever the buyer may be".
The sale of the daily "Ma'ariv" by Nochi Dankner to "Makor Rishon" publisher Shlomo Ben-Tzvi was agreed to before Ma'ariv Holdings, which owns the newspaper and other assets, obtained a stay of proceedings from the Tel Aviv District Court. The stay of proceedings means that the sale is on hold.
"We are making every effort to find a buyer at the best price, who will both operate the newspaper and employ the largest number of its employees," said Arbel and Nass. They added that they had approached several senior "Ma'ariv" correspondents with an offer to buy and operate the newspaper, both for sake of media pluralism in Israel and for the sake of the newspaper's journalists and other employees.
"We wish to emphasize that we welcome these approaches," wrote the trustees. "We would be greatly pleased to receive a substantial and fair business offer precisely from 'Ma'ariv's' employees. Historically, this could be continuity of the newspaper's founder Dr. Azriel Carlebach."
The trustees said that they were ready to fully collaborate with "Ma'ariv's" employees, respond to any request for information, and to discuss ideas, and review offers. "If you are able to raise the necessary resources, either yourselves or in partnership with outside parties, and you, the employees, will be the shareholders of Ma'ariv or parts of it, such as NRG, "At" (women's magazine), this would be a breakthrough in Israeli journalism in recent decades," wrote Arbel and Nass.
The trustees concluded their unexpected offer, "You, maybe more than others, can create a new and different newspaper, which can be both interesting and profitable."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 4, 2012
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