Photo: Shutterstock One of the largest car companies in Israel, Shlomo Holdings Vehicle owned by the Shmelzer family, is advancing towards a significant IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. With an estimated value of about 4 billion shekels.
This is a strategic step that is expected to attract considerable interest from both local investors and international bodies.
The company, which is part of the Shlomo Holdings group, operates in a variety of fields within the automotive sector, including operational leasing, car rentals, and the sale of new and used vehicles - areas in which it is considered one of the key players in the Israeli market.
One of the prominent partners in the IPO process isInfinity Partners Fund, an international investment fund headed by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The fund, involved in various economic projects, has succeeded in raising a significant portion of its funds for this investment from Saudi investors - a move that highlights the political and economic complexity of the deal.
According to a memorandum of understanding signed between the parties in September 2023, the fund was planned to invest about 570 million shekels in exchange for approximately 15% of Shlomo Holdings Vehicle's shares, based on a company valuation of about 3.8 billion shekels.
However due to the war, there has been a decrease in the investment size - the fund has in fact transferred only about 110 million dollars, based on a reduced company valuation of approximately 2.7 billion shekels.
As part of the financial coordination between the parties, the Shmelzer family provided the fund with loans totaling around 47 million dollars, while the fund itself directly transferred to the company a total of only about 63 million dollars from its funds.
If completed according to plans, Shlomo Holdings Vehicle’s IPO is expected to be one of the largest offerings that the local stock exchange has seen in recent years. It could serve as an indicator of capital market recovery and a renewed openness of the local market to international investments, even during a period of security challenges and geopolitical uncertainty.