Eli Rozenberg ups offer to El Al from $75 to $101 million
By HAGAY HACOHEN
Eli Rozenberg presented the Finance Ministry with an offer to buy $101 million of El Al’s stocks, up from his $75m proposal.This offer, made in a letter on Monday, would make him the potential owner of two thirds of the national airline’s stocks, Calcalist reported.Hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and a sharp decline in air travel, El Al needs funds to reimburse clients for canceled flights and to stay operational, which is what the future sale of company stocks is meant to achieve.Israel views the airline as a national asset, meaning that it must be owned by an Israeli citizen, which Rozenberg, a recent immigrant from the US, is.Son of American businessman Kenny Rozenberg, some raised objections to Rozenberg’s offer, stating their belief the son is acting on behalf of his father and bypassing the legal restrictions.It’s possible the state will agree to buy most of such future stocks, which will be a form of pouring public money into the privately controlled company to keep it going.However, it remains unclear how El Al means to turn a profit even if it rejects Rozenberg’s offer and accepts state aid.
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