Wertheimer: Buffett vows Iscar will remain Israeli

"If he says it's the best investment he has made, it isn't because of our pretty eyes."

"Warren Buffett's investment in Israel represents a huge vote of confidence in the company and the country," Iscar chairman Eitan Wertheimer said today, talking to "Globes" after the sale of the remaining 20% of Iscar to Buffett was announced.

"This is the biggest ever investment in an Israeli company, and if Buffett says that it's the best investment he has made, it isn't because of our pretty eyes," Wertheimer added, "He is a man with an amazing mind, extraordinarily smart."

Wertheimer said that Buffett had promised that Iscar would remain in Israel. "The most important thing from our point of view is that Buffett promised that as long as he lived, and we wish him good health, Iscar will not leave the borders of Israel," he said.

He stressed that no changes in the company's management were expected, but he himself will step down as chairman, in favor of Jacob Harpaz, who is currently CEO.

"Already, 80% of my time is spent on philanthropy," Wertheimer said, and he plans that this should become 100%.

"This is what Stef always dreamt of: a company that would manufacture and grow in Israel and generate jobs," Wertheimer concluded, referring to his father Stef Wetheimer, founder of Iscar.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 1, 2013

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013

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