The sale of controlling interest in Israel’s largest food concern Tnuva by Apax Partners (56.7%) and insurer Shamir (about 21%) to the Chinese food giant Bright Food at close to $2.14 billion will finally be closed on March 30, 2015, The Marker reports.
The deal will go through following more than a year and a half of contacts, and after Bright Food informed Apex and Shamir it had received the necessary regulatory approvals from China to complete the transaction.
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Most of the financing for the Bright Food transaction will come from the company’s own equity (80%), with the rest coming from financing by foreign banks.
The sale represents a huge profit of $1 billion after dividends, tax free, for Apax, which is run in Israel by Ze’havit Cohen. Shamir will earn $300 million.
Tnuva experienced a drop of 40% in profits in Q4 2014, mostly due to government imposing price controls on some of its most popular products, including 5% white cheese and 38% sweet cream. Those price controls also imposed a 1.1% price reduction on some products.