El Al told to act, as Sapir bids $51mn for joint control

With the passing of the August 31 deadline for a USD150 million public offering for El Al Israel Airlines (LY, Tel Aviv Ben Gurion), and three offers to invest in the carrier still on the table, Israel’s transport minister, Miri Regev, has reportedly told the company and the Ministry of Finance to resolve the matter immediately. After meeting the parties involved, she gave the financially strapped flag carrier an ultimatum: announce a date for the offering, sell the company, go into receivership, or risk losing the government’s support during the transition process, sources told the financial daily Globes on September 2. Besides the offering, the state has pledged 75% guarantees for bank loans worth USD250 million, although so far no loans are known to have been agreed with any banks. Meanwhile, Israeli-Russian telecoms and tourism entrepreneur David Sapir has offered to buy joint control of El Al, pledging USD51 million for 190 million new shares in the company – the same amount held by controlling shareholder Knafaim Holdings – at a 21% premium over El Al’s share price as trading opened on September 2, according to the newspaper Haaretz. This works out at 27.7% of the company. The cash injection would dilute Knafaim Holdings’ 38.3% stake to 27.7%, giving Sapir and Knafaim joint control over the company. Sapir’s proposal was initially submitted to Tamar Mozes Borovitz, who controls Knafaim, before appearing as a regulatory filing. Sapir claimed in the offer that he would obtain a USD400 million loan with low interest from Deutsche Bank, which would save El Al millions of dollars a year in interest payments. He also claimed that he would use his business ties, which are mostly in Russia, both to create strategic partnerships and to save millions in jet fuel costs. A spokeswoman for Sapir told Reuters that the carrier’s board had promised to discuss Sapir’s plan this week. It joins two other proposals, from British-Israeli real estate investor Meir Gurvitz to assume joint control with Knafaim for an unspecified sum, and the US-based Rozenberg family offering USD75 million for a 44.99% stake.