A regulatory disclosure released today, Sunday, revealed the stalling of a deal involving two shareholders of Israeli Phoenix Group Financial selling a stake to a consortium led by the Abu Dhabi Sovereign Fund (ADQ). The sellers mentioned in a letter to Phoenix, published on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, that "the parties reached a non-binding agreement." The letter noted regulatory constraints that would prevent members of the Emirati consortium from making "material investments" in Israel.
The disclosure stated that both parties were working on an agreement for the consortium, led by the UAE, to purchase significantly fewer shares of Phoenix, allowing Galatin and Centerbridge to retain at least 30 percent, representing a controlling stake. Last year, American private equity firms Centerbridge Partners and Galatin Point Capital, which own about 33 percent of Phoenix, announced that they were in advanced talks to sell between 25 and 30 percent of the company based on a valuation of 9.2 billion shekels (2.5 billion dollars) to ADQ and other Emirati and international investors.
The UAE was the first Gulf state to normalize relations with Israel under a U.S.-brokered agreement known as the "Abraham Accords" in 2020. Phoenix Group is one of the largest financial companies in Israel, with a market capitalization of 9.85 billion shekels.
