Chinese holding company Fujian Yango Group has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding concerning Delek Group Ltd.'s (TASE: DLEKG) shares in The Phoenix Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1;PHOE5), according to a notification from Delek Group to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange this morning. The notice states that in the event of a sale the consideration for Delek's 52.3% stake in Phoenix will not be less than NIS 1.8 billion. Delek Group is controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva.
The main obstacle to a deal will be obtaining approval from the regulator, the Supervisor of Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings in the Ministry of Finance. This will not be easy, given that up to now the regulator has not approved the acquisition of Israeli insurance companies by Chinese buyers, the Chinese company concerned has no known financial activity, and obtaining approval is a challenge for any potential buyer.
Only a few months ago, the sale by Delek to Chinese giant Fosun was cancelled. After more than a year of talks, the two sides reached a binding agreement in June 2015, but gave up after "the preconditions stipulated in the agreement were not all fulfilled."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 3, 2016
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