Competition Authority: The larger business groups no longer control the public pensions – the capital market

The Central Committee for Concentration Reduction on Monday announced that the largest business groups in the economy no longer control significant financial entities that manage public savings. This is six years after the centralization law was applied, which forced the large business groups to part with their holdings in the financial bodies.

The committee has updated some changes that have taken place since the last update, in September 2019. As part of the changes, Wertheim, IDB and Delek-Tshuva sold their holdings to significant financial entities, and met the separation obligation. “These moves have significantly reduced the overall economy of these groups,” the Competition Authority emphasized.

In relation to the Wertheim Group, which is controlled by Wertheim’s uncles, the Commission noted that Alony Arrow, Which was jointly controlled by the Wertheim and Arrow families, became a non-controlling corporation after the Wertheim family sold some of its holdings (down below 5%). “Selling some of the rights to Alon Arrow has removed Wertheim-controlled companies from the list of significant real corporations,” it noted.

The departure of the Wertheim family from the list of significant real corporations allows the family to continue to hold the bank’s controlling interest Mizrahi Bank, Which is a significant financial entity. As part of the move, Aloni-Arrow Group (a significant real estate corporation) broke away from the connection to Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (a significant financial body) and the connection to Keshet Broadcasting (an influential entity in the broadcasting sector), “it says.

In relation to the IDB group, it was noted that the controlling shareholder, Eduardo Elstein, sold some of the group’s holdings inClal Insurance, And stopped controlling it, so that insurance included no control nucleus. The loss of control of Clal Insurance allows the Elstein Group to continue to hold significant real corporations, including Cellcom And Shufersal.

In relation to the group fuel, Controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, said that the group recently completed the sale of its holdings in the insurance company Phoenix To the Centerbridge and Gelatin Point funds. The sale allows the Delek-Tshuva Group to continue to hold significant non-profit corporations, which include members of the Delek Group.

The centralization law, which came into effect in late 2013, stipulated that ownership of real assets (real estate, cellular technology, etc.), ownership of financial companies (banks and insurance companies) should be separated. In addition, the law prohibited a pyramidal ownership structure, which created a distortion of control and resulted in To the minority, and legalized a two-tier domination structure in public companies (parent company and subsidiary) The third section of the law imposed restrictions on companies in bidding for state tenders and concessions, taking into account considerations related to the group’s share of all activity in the economy.

We also informed the Competition Authority that the Churchlight Foundation and David and Michal Forer entered the list of significant real corporations. This, after purchasing the B Communications, Which controls theflash. “In doing so, Surchelight and the Forer family have become controlling shareholders in a significant (Bezeq) real estate corporation and have more than half of the rights in essential infrastructure in the communications industry.

Following the latest amendment released today, the list of centralized factors in the economy includes 75 groups and 4,687 centralized factors; The list of significant real corporations includes 20 groups and 2,059 corporations; And the list of significant financial entities includes 18 groups and 517 entities.

The appearance of a company on the list of centralized entities means that the granting of licenses or concessions on essential infrastructure, or the privatization of state-owned companies by its subscribers, requires the institution to consider generalized centralization considerations and to consult the centralization committee on the consequences of the allocation to centralization.