Barclays, BoA Merrill to lead Israel's Zim NY IPO -sources
08/10/2015 13:09
JERUSALEM, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Bank of America Merrill Lynch
BAC.N and Barclays Plc BARC.L will lead an initial public
offering of Israeli shipping firm Zim on Wall Street next year,
two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
One source said no date or valuation have been set but the
offering will be in New York, likely on the New York Stock
Exchange.
Barclays and Bank of America Merrill Lynch officials
declined to comment.
Zim, the world's 17th largest shipping line, is a unit of
Kenon Holdings KEN.N , controlled by billionaire Idan Ofer. A
Kenon KEN.TA spokeswoman declined to comment.
Its shares, in which 29 percent are floated, were up 4.3
percent in Tel Aviv.
Zim said in an emailed response that it "has been
contemplating going public and other financing options since
2007. This strategy has not changed. We have nothing to report
at this time and do not comment on rumours".
Like many others in the shipping industry, Zim had been hit
hard by sluggish trade in recent years and has also borne the
cost of upgrading its fleet to more efficient vessels.
Last year, Zim restructured $3 billion of its debt in which
creditors took over 68 percent of the company and committed to
take the company public.
In the second quarter, Zim posted an adjusted net profit of
$23 million, compared with a net loss of $50 million a year
earlier.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer and Tova Cohen; editing by Adrian
Croft)
((steven.scheer@thomsonreuters.com; +972 2 632 2210; Reuters
Messaging: steven.scheer.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net;
Twitter: @StevenMScheer))
Keywords: ZIM IPO/