Shlomo Shmeltzer has offered to buy the 50% stake in Subaru importer Japanauto Ltd. (TASE:JPNT.B1) from Metis Capital Ltd. (TASE: MTSC; DAX: EIC) for NIS 135 million. A sale is subject to due diligence and Metis' partner in Japanauto, Gad Zeevi's Myrag Development Israel Ltd., foregoing its right of first refusal.
Although Metis did not name the buyer in its notice to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), sources inform ''Globes'' that it is Shmeltzer. He and Metis's executives, Amnon Barzilai and Moni Harel, have apparently been in talks for a long time. Shmeltzer wants to buy Japanauto privately, not through S. Shlomo Holdings Ltd. (TASE:SHLD), which among other interests owns the Shlomo-Sixt car rental and leasing company.
Relations between Metis's Barzilai and Harel and Zeevi have been tense for years, and they have each sought to buy out the other. Several months ago, Metis moved its own offices out of the Japanauto building in Tel Aviv.
In addition to the Subaru import license, Japanauto's main asset is a nine-dunam (1.75-acre) lot in Herzliya, slated for an office and commercial complex. The company reportedly plans to develop the site, not sell it.
Shmelzer declined to comment on the report, and Zeevi was not available for comment.
Japanauto's sales and revenue have slumped since 2007. The company lost NIS 25 million on NIS 306 million revenue in the first half of 2009, after posting a loss of NIS 3 million on NIS 883 million in 2008, and a profit of NIS 56 million on NIS 1.14 billion revenue in 2007.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 22, 2009
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