Azrieli Group Ltd. (TASE: AZRG) is continuing its efforts to sell companies held through Granite Hacarmel Holdings Ltd. that are not core businesses of David Azrieli's real estate company. He has offered the fuel company Sonol Israel Ltd. to Shlomo Schmeltzer, the controlling shareholder of S. Shlomo Holdings Ltd. (TASE:SHLD). Schmeltzer reportedly visited Sonol, run by CEO Nir Galili, a former CEO of Shlomo Holdings.
Sonol's value is estimated at NIS 500-600 million.
Shlomo Holdings, which mainly operates in the vehicle leasing market, has made previous attempts to acquire Sonol, and bid to acquire control of Granite Hacarmel when it was a public company controlled by the Borovich family and Glencore.
Shlomo Holdings said in response today, "We are not in talks to acquire Sonol."
Granite Hacarmel has four main holdings: Sonol, paint company Tambour Ltd., Supergas Ltd., and GES Global Environmental Solutions Ltd. Azrieli Group delisted Granite Hacarmel from the TASE in October 2012 at an investment of NIS 320 million, reflecting a company value of over NIS 800 million. It has since sought to sell the company's holdings, so far without success.
In December, ''Globes'' reported that Apax Partners was in preliminary talks to acquire Tambour, for which Azrieli was asking NIS 500 million.
Several companies have reportedly been interested in acquiring Sonol, including Swiss energy commodities giant Trafigura AG.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 19, 2014
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