E-Malt.com News article: 1985

Israel: Moshe Podhorzer sold his stake in Tempo Beer Industries on December 28 to Jacques Bar and Amir Bornstein. They will share ownership of Tempo with Heineken, which whom they have a joint control agreement. The sale was carried out at a company value of $78.5 million. The agreement ends, at least temporarily, the complicated and passionate dispute between Bar and Podhorzer, the heirs of Tempo's founder.

After Tempo is divided, Heineken is expected to produce beer at a brewery in Israel, which will lower Heineken's costs and significantly improve its profitability. This will probably greatly intensify competition in Israel's beer market between Tempo, which produces Maccabee, Goldstar, and Heineken beers, and Carlsberg, which jointly produces Carlsberg beer with Central Bottling Co. (Coca-Cola Israel) at its brewery in Ashkelon.

The sale of the controlling interest in Tempo will result in a single consolidated group seizing the reins of the company. It will allow Tempo's delisting from the TASE and its separation into two companies, one for soft drinks, and the other for beer, controlled by Heineken.

Once the deal is completed and all necessary permit are obtained, Bar plans to submit an offer to purchase and delist Tempo from the TASE. The public owns only 5.6% of Tempo, and trading in the share is very light. The sale negotiations accelerated after Heineken last week officially agreed to participate. With Heineken's consent obtained, the parties decided the gap between their positions allowed a deal to be completed by December 31.

Tempo posted NIS 343 million in sales in January-September 2003, compared with NIS 445 million in the corresponding period in 2002. The fall is attributed to the economic recession. Tempo restructured during this period, and posted a profit of NIS 9.3 million, compared with a loss of NIS 10.6 million in the corresponding period last year.


30 December, 2003