Doom and gloom are enveloping the Chinese consortium seeking to acquire control of Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd. (TASE: CLIS). Sources inform ''Globes'' that not only will Supervisor of the Capital Markets, Insurance, and Savings Dorit Salinger not give JT Capital Fund pte Ltd. and its partners an indication whether she will approve the sale by Friday, but she has new information from an external source not to approve the deal.
A capital market source quotes Salinger as saying, "These are not the Chinese who acquired Tnuva Food Industries Ltd.." The Ministry of Finance declines to comment.
The sources added that Salinger notified JT Capital that it will not receive approval by tomorrow. So far as is known, in the next two days, JT Capital will try and persuade Salinger, but the source said, "If there is no major change in her position, they will not extend the deadline and will not deposit NIS 150 million tomorrow, effectively terminating the deal."
On Thursday, JT Capital and its partners will decide whether to extend the deadline reached with the heads of IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) for closing the acquisition of Clal Finance until June 20. An extension is not automatic and includes a NIS 150 million down payment, which will be foreclosed by IDB if no deal is closed, in addition to the NIS 150 million already transferred, and will increase the price by NIS 16 million.
Under the agreement signed in August 2013 with IDB, JT Capital and its partners will acquire 32% of Clal Insurance for NIS 1.47 billion, giving a company value of NIS 4.6 billion, and they will have an option to acquire IDB's remaining 23% stake in the company.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 28, 2014
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