Finally! Sirius Group Agrees to Purchase 4.9% of Israeli Phoenix

Global insurance company Sirius International Insurance Group announced today that it had entered into a definitive agreement to purchase 4.9% of The Phoenix Holdings from Delek Group for NIS 208 million in cash.  As part of the agreement, within 45 days of its signing, Sirius will submit an application to the Israeli Commissioner of Capital Markets, Insurance and Savings to receive a permit to control the insurance company, and has an exclusivity period of 60 days to conduct due diligence, during which time Sirius has the option to purchase all of Delek Group’s remaining shares in The Phoenix (~ 47.35%) for an additional sum of NIS 2.3 billion in cash, subject to certain adjustments for interest and earnings.

Allan Waters, Chairman and CEO of Sirius International Insurance Group, Ltd. referred to the deal today and said, “We are excited and look forward to working with The Phoenix in the Israeli market. The Phoenix has been a Sirius business partner for decades, and it is one of Israel’s leading insurance and financial services companies. Through The Phoenix, Sirius plans to offer new products to the Israeli market, and views this as an opportunity to develop new technology solutions, while protecting the interests of the Israeli public insured by the company.”

Allan Waters further added that Sirius is confident that the Israeli Commissioner of Insurance will approve Sirius as a controller of The Phoenix, given Sirius’s long-standing insurance expertise and strong regulatory oversight in New York, the UK, Sweden, Bermuda, Singaporeand more.

In one word: Finally! Prior to this deal, Phoenix Holdings has been engaged in acquisition talks with 4 entities: Fujian Yango Group, Kushner Funding, Fosun, and AmTrust.