Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Sampoerna sell 10% shares Harel Insurance

Harel Insurance Investments &Financial Services Ltd. controlling shareholders, Israel Hamburger family, has signed an agreement to buy 10 percent of the company held by Sampoerna family.
The price will be 145 shekels a share, and the deal will increase the Hamburger's holdings in Harel above 50 percent. Last 2006, Sampoerna family buy of a 20.2 percent stake in Harel Insurance Investments Ltd., Israel's third-largest insurer, for $193 million.
The purchase from Israel Discount Bank Ltd. and the Hamburger family, values the company at $954 million. Sampoerna family, in 2005 sold a stake in PT H.M. Sampoerna, Indonesia's No. 3 cigarette maker, to Altria Group Inc. and have been using the proceeds to expand in Asia, Europe and North America. The family has stakes in financial services, real estate and telecommunications.
Discount Bank is selling its Harel shares to comply with new Israeli rules designed to boost competition in financial markets. The bank was forced to cut its holdings in Harel to less than 10 percent to let it sell insurance and pensions to its customers. The Israeli lender had a 15.89 percent stake in Harel before the deal, while the Hamburger family owned 50.01 percent. The Sampoernas bought half their 20.2 percent stake from Discount Bank and the rest from the Hamburger family.

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