(BIZ) British-Israel Investments Advances To Two-Year High On Acquisition Talks

"British-Israel Investments Ltd. surged to the highest level in more than two years after Melisron Ltd. said it’s in talks with third parties to buy 71 percent of the real-estate investment company.

The shares jumped 6.6 percent to 12.2 shekels, the highest since December 2007, at the 4:30 p.m. close in Tel Aviv. Melisron rose 2 percent to 89.07 shekels, the highest since Aug. 17.



Melisron, controlled by the billionaire Ofer brothers, said the acquisition of 117 million shares will price British-Israel at 14.5 shekels per share, according to a statement to the local bourse yesterday. The closing may take place in a few weeks. British-Israel yesterday said its owners are in negotiations to sell control of the company.

British Israel, held about 56 percent by British investor Leo Noe through his company UK One, owns 17 malls in Israel, including a 50 percent stake in a 19,000 square-meter mall in Hadera and a 52,000 square-meter property in Haifa, according to its website. Azrieli Group Ltd., the country’s largest real- estate developer by market value and Melisron’s main competitor, is looking to spend the 2.5 billion shekels ($658 million) it raised in June to buy or develop shopping malls and commercial properties with a focus on the country’s north, President Menachem Einan said in a Sept. 2 interview.

'This is definitely a high price,' said Shay Lipman, an analyst at Tel Aviv-based IBI. 'But this deal is going to make Melisron the largest income-producing property developer in the country, bigger than Azrieli.'

Azrieli, owned by Canadian billionaire David Azrieli, has 17 shopping malls and business complexes in operation or under development, most of which are located around Tel Aviv, Israel’s business capital." (source)