Written by: Aaron Katsman | December 4, 2008
At a time when Israeli financial stocks keep falling and there doesn’t seem to be much interest in the sector, $17 billion hedge fund York Capital is looking to increase its stake in Bank Hapoalim.
According to a report in Globes: ” York Capital wants to expand its activity in Israel and is examining further investments in financial companies.”The sources said that York Capital’s request to the Bank of Israel was with the knowledge and consent of Bank Hapoalim controlling shareholder Shari Arison Dankner. A top banker told “Globes”, “York Capitals’ wish to buy Bank Hapoalim shares especially now is a vote of confidence in the bank and in Israel’s financial system.”
York already owns Psagot investment house which it bought from Bank Leumi. Their move to buy a 9.9% interest in Bank Hapoalim, truly signals York’s commitment to the Israeli marketplace and that they view the country as having great potential.
Written by: Aaron Katsman | September 18, 2008
With prices of Israeli stocks that trade in the US getting nailed along with the broader market, the potential exists for a pick up in M&A among these companies. But a problem exists. It’s not about what price a company may or may not want to pay to buy a company, rather, there is a technical problem. Will there be any investment banks left that can bank the deal? With the demise of Lehman Brothers, by far and away the busiest investment bank in Israel, and the constant rumors of other large US investment banks on the verge of collapse, who is going to be able to fill the void, penetrate the local market and do the deals?
The last time the market experienced a bursting bubble, back in 2000-02, when the hi-tech bubble burst, Israel had an exodus of investment bankers, and as a result, little in the way of M&A took place. Two large firms stayed during that crisis, Lehman and Citigroup. The impact was devastating and it took a few years before we had an upswing in M&A. Let’s hope that the current crisis isn’t deja vu all over again.
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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.
Written by: Aaron Katsman | May 1, 2008
Aaron Katsman
www.IsraelNewsletter.com
Once again the Israeli firm NetManage (NETM) is set to be acquired. This time Micro Focus has offered that they will acquire each outstanding share of common stock of NetManage for $7.20 per share, representing a premium of approximately 73% over the closing share price of NetManage’s common stock on April 30, 2008 of $4.15.
This is great news for investors as they are getting some serious premium. It’s also not the first time we have been down this road. About 6 months ago Rocket Software also tried acquiring NetManage, but after a few months, they had to give up as they were unable to secure financing.
It appears that this time the deal should go through. They firms have set a date of June to complete the deal. This indicates to me that financing is not a problem.
It will be interesting to see how the stock trades in respect to the take-out price, for potential merger-arbitrage possibilities. Stay tuned.
Disclosure: Author’s fund has no position in NETM, fund has no position in any other stock mentioned as of 5/1/08.
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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.
