ALON BLUE SQUARE ANNOUNCES RECEIPT OF ADDITIONAL OFFER TO PURCHASE ITS HOLDINGS IN BLUE SQUARE REAL ESTATE LTD.
YAKUM, Israel, January 15, 2016, Alon Blue Square Israel Ltd. (NYSE: BSI) (the “Company”) announced today that it had received an additional offer to purchase the Company's holdings in Blue Square Real Estate Ltd. ("BSRE"), which is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The Company currently holds 53.92% of the outstanding shares of BSRE.
The offer requests a no shop period until January 24, 2016 at 8pm Israel time, during which period the Company would negotiate only with the purchaser and not with any other party or otherwise receive offers for the sale by the Company of its interest in BSRE. To the extent the purchaser completes its inspection of BSRE to its satisfaction during this period and the parties reach agreement on a purchase agreement, the purchaser would purchase the Company's interest in BSRE on an as-is basis based on a NIS 1.7 billion valuation of BSRE.
The purchase agreement, if signed, would be subject to acceptable closing conditions and mainly approval of the Israeli Antitrust Authority, the Company's bank lenders, and the holders of the Company's bonds, and consents that may by required by law or under agreement, without conditions.
The offer has requested that the Company respond by 8:00 am Israel time on Sunday, January 17, 2016 if it agrees to the no shop described above.
The Company has not yet decided whether to agree to the no-shop request, nor whether to sell its interest in BSRE, and the terms of this offer have not yet been approved by the board of directors of the Company.
There is no guarantee that any purchase agreement will be signed for the transaction, and if signed, that such a transaction will be completed.
