TASE Members Approve Request To Defer Closing Of Transaction For The Sale Of TASE Shares - The Transaction’s Approval Process Will Be Completed By August 31, 2018 At The Latest

​The members of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) have approved a request to defer the closing date of the transaction for the sale of TASE shares until the end of August 2018.

The Israel Securities Authority has requested that the transaction approval date be deferred, in order to complete the process of examining the transaction plan, including conducting additional examinations for the purpose of granting permits to the additional international strategic entities.

As will be recalled, the structure of the transaction includes TASE entering into an agreement with the American investment fund, Manikay Partners LLC, which is expected to acquire 19.9% of TASE’s shares based on a market cap of NIS 551 million.

Concurrently, five international investors are expected to acquire 51.8% of TASE’s shares. At least 30% of the TASE shares to be acquired by these investors will be entrusted to a trustee until their distribution to the public. The issuance of at least 30% of TASE’s shares to the public is expected to take place directly (with no involvement of institutional investors) in the last quarter of 2018.

The issuance plan is meant to enable a more distributed structure anchored in the new shareholders, while securing sufficient shares for a successful public issuance so as to share TASE’s success with the Israeli general public.

Below is the expected holdings structure of TASE at the end of the process:

• The public – at least 30% (via a direct placement) 
• Manikay investment fund – 19.9% 
• Five international strategic entities – 21.8% 
• Current shareholders –  2.3%; TASE employees – 6%