Fortissimo nears acquisition of Tahal for $130m

Yuval Cohen
Yuval Cohen

Kardan NV bondholders may torpedo the sale of the Israeli infrastructure engineering project developer to the Rosh Ha'ayin based private equity fund.

Israeli private equity fund Fortissimo Capital is closing in on a deal to buy a 98.4% stake in Israeli infrastructure engineering project developer Tahal Group from Kardan NV (TASE: KRNV;AEX:KARD) for $120-130 million. According to market sources, the deal could be signed in the coming few days, after talks to sell Tahal to a Chinese group broke down.

The final price and accompanying conditions have yet to be agreed and the deal could also be torpedoed by Kardan Series B bondholders and Hermetic Trustees - the trustees of the bond series. Kardan needs the deal if it is to meet upcoming bond payments and not declare insolvency but the trustees have called a meeting of the bondholders to discuss the situation.

Both Fortissimo and Apax Partners bid for Tahal last year and Fortissimo even conducted due diligence but the bids were rejected by Kardan as too low. Tahal turned to overseas investors and attracted interest from two Chinese groups but talks continued with no prospect of a deal in sight, so that Kardan again opened itself to offers from the domestic market and Fortissimo, led by founder and managing partner Yuval Cohen, again bid $120 million -130 million.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 7, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

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