Fosun International, the largest private-owned conglomerate in China, will buy Phoenix Holdings Ltd. from Israel-based company Delek for more than $460 million plus the interest accumulated before the deal’s closing date.
Through an emailed statement, Delek announced on Sunday it would sell its entire 52-percent stake to Fosun's unit.
Meanwhile, Fosun said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the maximum due can be as much as $489 million. That includes the accrued interests as well as other adjustments possible.
The Netanya-based company needs to sell its stake in Phoenix to adhere to a law passed in Dec. 2013 that bans Israeli companies from owning financial services corporations as well as industrial businesses.
“We are in a great starting position to implement our plans and undertake strategic investments in the international energy market, which will be synergistic and complementary to our activities," said Asaf Bartfeld, Delek Group chief executive officer, in an emailed statement.
Bartfeld added that it is an important strategic deal for the group and will add 1.8 billion shekels in cash to the company’s coffers.
“The sale is part of Delek’s strategy to focus on gas and was expected,” said Noam Pincu, an analyst at Tel Aviv-based Psagot Investment House Ltd., via phone interview.
Pincu added that the move may enable Delek to revive its plan to list shares in London in the medium term.
Fosun chairman Guo Guangchang said in an interview in April that the company will invest in more insurers in Europe and the U.S. in the next two years.
The company has been on an acquisition spree, buying insurers, energy companies and properties overseas in Australia, Italy and New York.
Guo, on the other hand, is a self-proclaimed student of Warren Buffett, the most successful investor of the 20th century.