Haredi (ultra-orthodox) investor Chaim Lebovitz has sold his 21.5% stake in Shemen Oil and Gas Resources Ltd. (TASE: SMOG), held through ACC International Holdings Inc., for NIS 76.6 million. He sold the stake at the order of Rabbi Shmuel Halevy-Wosner, because the company drills on the Sabbath. The company owns the Shemen (Yam 3) offshore license 15 kilometers west of Ashdod.
Shemen Oil is headed by former IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi who serves as chairman alongside CEO Yossi Levy. According to Netherland Sewell & Associates Ltd. (NSAI), the Shemen license has potential of 227 milllion barrels of oil. Shemen Oil's partner in the license, Caspian Drilling Company, Azerbaijan's national oil company, is the well operator.
Buyers of ACC's shares include Yaakov Luxembourg, the controlling shareholder of Lapidoth Israel Oil Prospectors Corporation Ltd. (TASE: LAPD), who increased his stake in Shemen Oil from 2% to 4%. Other buyers are Avraham Nanikashvilli and Jackie Ben-Zaken, which bought 4.97% of Shemen Oil for NIS 20 million; and Eden Energy Discoveries Ltd. (TASE: EDN), which bought 5.03% of Shemen Oil for NIS 22 million. Nanikashvilli and Ben-Zaken each own 11.6% of Shemen Oil and also own 12.9% of the company through Israel Financial Levers Ltd. (TASE:LVR).
The sales were made at NIS 0.135-0.142 per share, compared with yesterday's closing price of NIS 0.15, giving a market cap of NIS 464 million. Shemen Oil's share price was unchanged by midday today.
Lebovitz was a Satmar Hassid before joining Chabad after marrying his wife.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 18, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012