In October, Rami Levy made a low NIS 70 million bid for the airline, but he later raised it in line with other competing offers.
By ZEV STUBRami Levy(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Supermarket mogul Rami Levy is expected to be chosen to become the new owner of Israir Airlines, according to a report in Globes on Tuesday.Levy’s bid of NIS 162 million for 51% of Israel’s third-largest airline is seen as the best of three bids for the company. The current owner, IDB Development, has been trying to sell Israir for two years.Rami Levy’s supermarket chain brings huge potential for synergetic revenues. Among the plans discussed are to allow Rami Levy loyalty club customers to use points towards Israir flights, to offer products in duty-free, and more, the report noted.In October, Rami Levy made a low NIS 70m. bid for the airline, but he later raised it in line with other competing offers.Besides Rami Levy, the other bidders were property developer Yigal Dimri and businessman Moti Ben-Moshe through his Dor Alon group, the report said.Israir offers regular flights between Ben-Gurion Airport and Eilat, and flies to destinations in Europe and Asia. It recently began flights to Dubai, and will start flying to Bahrain at the end of January, with flights to Morocco also in the works.
