Sheldon Adelson will not buy Ma'ariv Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MARV), which owns the Hebrew daily “Ma’ariv”. Sources at “Ma’ariv” said that Ma’ariv controlling shareholder Ofer Nimrodi wanted $180 million for the newspaper, not including its real estate properties, while Sheldon Adelson was willing to pay $125 million.
There has been no response from Adelson’s company, Newsco.
Nimrodi said in response, “When we first spoke, we talked about a price tag of $250 million. That was tempting, because it was a very large amount for anyone. The moment we realized that the opening numbers were becoming unreasonably low, we dropped the deal. The company isn’t up for sale. We’re in the midst of change and renewal. I love “Ma’ariv”, believe in it, and know its importance for the Israeli public.”
Paralleling Adelson’s negotiations to buy “Ma’ariv”, he will launch a new free daily “Israel Today” in two weeks. The new paper is now hiring. Amos Regev will be the editor and Asher Baharav will manage it. Both men held the equivalent positions at Adelson’s previous free daily “Israeli”, which was jointly owned with Shlomo Ben-Tzvi. That partnership is now in the courts.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on June 25, 2007
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