Antitrust Authority director general Ronit Kan has approved the huge deal in the income-producing real estate sector: the acquisition by Melisron Ltd. (TASE: MLSR) of British-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE: BRTS). The approval is conditional on Melisron committing to sell, within two years, two large commercial properties, either the Grand Kanion Mall or the Kiryon Mall in the north, and the Rehovot Mall, Avnet Mall, or the Ra'ananim Mall, in the center of the country.
Melisron is leaning toward selling the Grand Kanyon in Haifa and the Ra'ananim Mall in Ra'anana.
In October 2010, Melisron, controlled by Yuli and Liora Ofer, signed an agreement to acquire the 71% controlling interest in British Israel, controlled by Leo Noe and Pujo Zabludowicz, for NIS 1.7 billion. The merger will create Israel's largest owner of malls.
Kan's decision to require Melisron to sell a property in central Israel is due to the concentration of power that is liable to result from the Melisron-British Israel group at the national level. She has therefore allowed Melisron to decide which of the three mall in the area that it will sell.
It is important to note that Melisron cannot sell these properties to Azrieli Group Ltd. (TASE: AZRG), currently Israel's largest mall owner. Kan wants other mall groups to emerge in the market. She believes that the sale of two malls by Melisron is the foundation for creating such a group.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 27, 2011
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