Employees buy 8% of El Al

Israel's Finance Ministry said last Wednesday that it had sold shares of El Al Israel Airlines to the carrier's workers union as part of the airline's privatization process. The Finance Ministry said in a statement the union bought 8.17% of the national carrier, or 6.5 percent on a diluted basis, for 12.7 million shekels (USD$2.9 million).
 
The employees bought the shares at a 70% discount on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) price, for a total of NIS 12.5 million. El Al employees have options for another 5% of El Al shares, at a discount of 40%, from 2007.
 
The Ministry had held the shares for the workers and offered to sell them at a discounted price to the union. In December last year, the Israeli Government gave up control of El Al after Knafaim-Arkia Holdings exercised options in the airline to bring its stake up to 40 percent, making it the largest shareholder. The government now holds 21%.