Bank Leumi, represented by Avi Zeldman, CEO of Leumi & Co. Investment House, is apparently negotiating with Elco Holdings over the purchase of a 20% stake in Electra Consumer Products Israel. Electra manufactures, markets and sells air conditioners locally under the Electra and Elco labels, and imports and markets home appliances and computer products, including Lenovo portable computers and Sony Ericsson cellular telephones, which are marketed and distributed by subsidiaries Taga Magam and Beres Electra.
Electra also sells consumer goods via the electrical-appliance chains Shekem Electric, Sensor and Mahsanei Hashmal, which operate a total of 64 branches, from Nahariya to Be'er Sheva.
Earlier this month Giza Singer Even financial advisors published an estimate of the value of Electra at NIS 1.15-1.48 billion, in advance of the entry of a partner to Elco, a publicly traded company controlled by Gershon Salkind. Less than a year ago, Electra was delisted after Salkind bought up the public's shares via a purchase offer, at a company value of NIS 886 million.
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In 2007 Electra recorded sales totaling NIS 2.5 billion, a figure that is expected to remain steady in 2008.
Leumi & Co. Investment House is the investment arm of the Leumi Group, which has a real asset portfolio valued at an estimated NIS 7 billion. The group's investments include holdings in the Israel Corporation, Superpharm, Paz Oil, Migdal Insurance, Cellcom Communications, Keshet Broadcasting and the Fox fashion chain.
Elco is currently trading at a market cap of NIS 1.2 billion and the holding company's share price has gained 11% since the publication of the Electra evaluation, offsetting a slide of 26% since the beginning of the year. Salkind owns 70% of Elco; other significant shareholders include Clal Insurance, which owns 6%.
No response was available from Elco, and a Leumi spokesperson responded that the investment house "does not comment on corporate contacts and negotiations being conducted with various companies."
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