Minister of Finance Yair Lapid has decided not to forego the government’s golden share in Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. and that it will continue to be held by the State.
The decision was made following discussions led my Ministry of Finance Director General Yael Andorn, with representatives from the relevant Finance Ministry departments, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Justice. During the discussions, government heard Zim’s position, and the position of the Merchant Marine Officers Association.
The golden share gives the government rights to protect the essential interests of the State of Israel. The rights include: receiving government approval for decisions that could harm the preservation of the company’s Israeli identity, and maintaining a minimal operational ability and freight capacity in times of crisis.
In the talks, emphasis was placed on the strategic, defense, and economic angles, based on which it was decided not to make any changes to the golden share.
On June 23 the Zim general shareholders’ meeting is scheduled to approve the debt settlement between the company and its creditors. This is a settlement that Zim announced on January 23. Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO), which holds 99.7% of Zim’s shares, will ask, among other things, to erase the remaining shareholders, some of whom have been holding Zim shares for decades.
Based on an analysis of Zim’s business plan conducted by Brightman Almagor, it seems that already this year Zim is expected to become a very profitable company: after recording an operating loss of $191 million for 2013, Zim will report operating profits of $112 million this year, and the profit will grow to $158 million in 2015, and $183 million in 2017.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 19, 2014
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