AMPAL GROUP ANNOUNCES SALE OF INTEREST IN CAYMAN BANK AND NEW HIGH-TECH INVESTMENTS.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 1995--Ampal-American Israel Corporation announced today that it has agreed to sell its interest in Bank Hapoalim Bank Hapoalim (Hebrew: בנק הפועלים lit. Bank of the Workers) is the largest Israeli bank. (Cayman) Ltd., and had invested in two high-tech companies. Ampal has agreed to sell its Ordinary Shares and 7% Preferred Shares Preferred shares Preferred shares give investors a fixed dividend from the company's earnings and entitle them to be paid before common shareholders. See: Preferred stock. of Bank Hapoalim (Cayman) Ltd., which constitute 49% and 50% of each series, respectively, to its parent, Bank Hapoalim B.M. The sales price is $20.2 million, which is slightly in excess of Ampal's carrying value Carrying Value Also know as "book value," it is a company's total assets minus intangible assets and liabilities, such as debt. Notes: This is different than market value, as it can be higher or lower depending on the circumstances. for its investment. The transaction is subject to receipt of approval of the Bank of Israel The Bank of Israel (Hebrew: בנק ישראל) is the central bank of Israel. The Bank of Israel is located in Jerusalem, with a branch office in Tel Aviv. , Israel's central bank, by Bank Hapoalim. Ampal's 42.5%-owned affiliate, Ophir Holdings Ltd., has exercised its option to acquire an additional 10% equity interest in Memco Software Ltd. for $1.25 million, bringing Ophir's interest in Memco to 20%, for an aggregate cost of $2.5 million. Simultaneously, Platinum Technology Platinum Technology Inc. was founded by Andrew Filipowski in 1987 to market and support deployment of Database Management software products and the applications enabled by database management technology and render related services. Inc., an American public company which markets software packages, acquired a 10% equity interest in Memco for $4 million, diluting Ophir's interest to 18%. Ophir will record a pre- tax gain on issuance of shares by Memco of approximately $500,000 in connection with this transaction. Platinum also paid Memco $6 million for non-exclusive marketing rights regarding the software produced by Memco on a worldwide basis, except for the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . Memco, an Israeli company, develops and manufactures software products which secure open systems based on UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). . Also, a wholly-owned Israeli subsidiary of Ampal invested $1 million to acquire a 13.64% equity interest in Lannair, Ltd., an Israeli company which is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of wireless local area networks (LANs) for computers, using license-free, spread spectrum radio technology. Ampal and its subsidiaries acquire interests in businesses located in the State of Israel or that are Israel-related. An important objective of Ampal is to make investments in companies which take advantage of growth in Israel's domestic economy. Ampal and its subsidiaries have diversified interests in the following sectors: hotels and leisure-time, real estate, energy distribution, basic industry, high technology and communications, as well as others. CONTACT: Lawrence Lefkowitz President 212/782-2100 |
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