El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE:ELAL) has offered to buy control of credit card company Isracard (TASE: ISCD) at a company valuation of NIS 3.1 billion. This is a similar offer to the one made last week for the credit card company by insurance and finance company Menora Mivtachim (TASE: MMHD).
El Al’s share price has risen 173% over the past year as foreign airlines have canceled flights to Israel during the war leaving the Israeli airline with a monopoly on many routes, in particular to the US. El Al reported record profits in the second quarter of 2024.
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Control of Isracard would dovetail with the retail activities of its frequent flyers club (owned jointly with The Phoenix), which has 3.1 million members, and the 414,000 members holders of its Fly Card credit card, which services passengers that want to accrue points.
El Al, led by CEO Dina Ben Tal Ganancia today sent a letter to Isracard chair Tamar Yassur and CEO Ran Oz offering to buy a 45% stake in the credit card company through a private allocation of shares. Isracard’s current market cap is NIS 2.8 billion, well below El Al’s valuation of NIS 3.1 billion. El Al proposed meeting with Isracard’s management immediately after the holidays, “To strenuously move forward without any delay to reach an agreement between Isracard and El Al, for an investment by El Al in Isracard.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on October 16, 2024.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.
