Abu Dhabi's ADQ leads consortium to buy a stake in Israel's Phoenix Group

ADQ is buying Centerbridge's stake in Phoenix, in a non-binding deal

The Abu Dhabi skyline. Photo for illustrative purposes only. - KT file

By Reuters

Published: Wed 14 Dec 2022, 4:06 PM

A consortium led by Abu Dhabi state holding firm ADQ are in advanced negotiations to acquire a controlling stake in Israeli financial firm Phoenix Group in a deal valued around 9.2 billion shekels ($2.70 billion), the companies said on Wednesday.

US private investment firms Centerbridge Partners and Gallatin Point Capital, which hold 33.4 per cent of the Israeli firm, are in talks to sell about 25-30 per cent of the company to the Abu Dhabi funds, the two companies said in a statement. Phoenix's chief executive and chairman, it said, would also buy 1-2 per cent of the company.

"The transaction will be subject to regulatory approvals, which will include a control permit from Israel's Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Authority," Centerbridge and Gallatin said in the statement.

Some 58 per cent of Phoenix's shares would remain traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

ADQ is buying Centerbridge's stake in Phoenix, in a non-binding deal, which may take months to complete to receive regulatory and shareholder approvals, according to a source familiar with the deal.

Phoenix Group, one of the largest financial firms in Israel with a market capitalisation of around $2.8 billion, is a provider of multi-line insurance, asset management, investment and financial services.

The UAE became the first Gulf state to normalise relations with Israel under a US-brokered normalisation agreement, under the Abraham Accords, in 2020.

ADQ's venture capital arm DisruptAD, along with a fund managed by US-French private equity firm L Catterton, in July led a $105 million investment round in Israel's Aleph Farms, a lab-grown meat start-up firm.