Abu Dhabi's ADQ cancels deal to take over Israel's biggest insurance firm
An investment consortium led by the Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company (ADQ) has cancelled a deal to take over Israeli financial services company Phoenix Holdings Limited, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.
ADQ decided against buying a controlling stake of the firm due to potential regulatory limitations that could restrict members of the consortium from making other investments in Israel.
“The parties are finalizing an agreement pursuant to which the controlling shareholder will sell the Consortium shares in the Company while still retaining at least 30% of the fully diluted shareholding of the business and thus the control stake,” a letter to Phoenix from the controlling shareholders filed to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange read.
It added that the price agreed upon in the original agreement will remain in the new sale.
In December, Phoenix controlling shareholders Centerbridge Partners and Gallatin Point Capital announced that Abu Dhabi investors were expected to take a 25-30 percent stake in the firm.
At the time, the deal was valued at $855 million.
The UAE and Israel normalised relations under the Abraham Accords - brokered by former US president Donald Trump - in 2020.
The two countries have since ardently established ties in fields including tourism, energy, surveillance and military technology.