Chinese Acquisition of Israeli Insurer Falls Through

(CTech) — Israel-based Delek Group announced on Sunday in a filing to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange the cancellation of a deal to sell its controlling stake in Israeli insurer Phoenix Holdings to Sirius International Insurance Group Ltd.

China-affiliated Sirius and Delek first signed the agreement in September 2017, with Sirius agreeing to pay $57.5 million for a 4.9% stake in Phoenix. In November 2017, Sirius announced it has moved to exercise its option to purchase all of Delek's remaining shares in the Phoenix, 46.2%, for another $640 million. Delek and Sirius have failed to secure regulatory approvals by the deal’s July 2 deadline.

Last week, Calcalist reported that the deal has not been approved by Israel's Commissioner of Capital Markets Dorit Salinger, and that if it failed to meet the deadline, Sirius will be required to sell the 4.9% stake it has already acquired from Delek and abandon the deal. In Sunday’s announcement, Delek confirmed lack of regulatory approval was the reason for the cancellation.

Sirius, a majority-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based investment company China Minsheng Investment Group (CMIG) International, is the fifth buyer to negotiate for Delek’s stake in Phoenix in recent years.

This article was originally published at CTech.