Business in Brief: April 5

Eilat Port privatization under way; Tel Aviv to get 65-story skyscrapers; Average public CEO salary: NIS 236,000; Boston Scientific to buy Israeli startup.

By GLOBES
Eilat Port privatization under way • By AMIRAM BARKAT
The Government Companies Authority on Monday began the prequalification stage of bidders in the tender for the sale of the government’s stake in Eilat Port Company Ltd. This is the first stage in the privatization of Israel’s seaports. The government plans to sell its entire stake in the Eilat Port Company to a private franchisee for about NIS 100 million. The franchisee will receive a license from the transportation minister to operate the Eilat Port for 15 years, with an option to extend for 10 years, subject to meeting container-traffic volume quotas at the port during the first three years of the operating period.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said this was an important step toward implementing the 2005 ports reform. Government Companies Authority director Doron Cohen said the privatization of the Eilat Port Company would help realize its cargo and tourism potential. Since the beginning of the year, he said, 10,000 passengers have passed through the port’s passenger terminal, which was opened last year.
Tel Aviv to get 65-story skyscrapers • By AVI SHAULY
Electra Ltd., controlled by George Salkind, and Pangaea Real Estate Ltd., controlled by Barak Rosen and Assaf Tuchmayer, are in talks to buy the Tnuva lot from Tnuva Food Industries Ltd. in Tel Aviv for NIS 565 million. They plan to build three 65-story skyscrapers at an investment of NIS 2 billion for the project on the site. The buildings will be Israel’s tallest buildings.
The Tnuva lot has a net area of 13 dunams and a current building permit for 124,000 square meters plus 2,500 parking spaces. A shopping center, similar to the nearby Azrieli Center, will be built beneath the commercial and residential space. The lot was previously used by Tnuva as a dairy. Electra and Pangaea plan to buy the lot in equal shares. The parties have signed a no-shop agreement, which will be valid through May 1, for which Electra and Pangaea paid a NIS 1m. deposit.
Average public CEO salary: NIS 236,000 • By TALI TSIPORI
The average annual salary cost of a CEO of a public company is NIS 2.93 million, according to the financial reports of 446 companies, or 70 percent of Israel’s public companies. The average monthly salary cost is NIS 236,000, an annual increase of 10.1% more in real terms.
The average monthly salary cost rose by 7.4% in 2009.
The last time that CEOs’ salary cost had double-digit growth was in 2004. The average salary cost of a CEO of a public company has risen by 134% over the past 16 years.
In 1994, when public companies first disclosed salary figures, the average annual salary cost of a CEO was NIS 1.21 million, or NIS 101,000 per month.
The average annual salary cost of a CEO of a Tel Aviv 100 company is NIS 6.85m., based on the financial reports of 65 companies. The average monthly salary cost is NIS 571,000, an annual increase of 14.1% in real terms. The average salary cost has risen 103% in real terms over the past eight years. The average annual salary cost of a CEO of a Tel Aviv 25 company is NIS 11.97m., based on the financial reports of 15 companies. The average monthly salary cost is NIS 998,000, an annual increase of 29.6% in real terms.
Boston Scientific to buy Israeli startup • By GALI WEINREB and SHIRI HABIB-VALDHORN
The identity of the buyer of SI Therapies has been revealed: US medical-devices giant Boston Scientific, which in the past has acquired Israeli companies Remon Medical and Labcoat and has invested in many Israeli biomed companies and funds. Aran Research Development & Prototypes has published new details in its financials about the agreement it signed to sell the subsidiary (55 percent): Boston Scientific paid $5.13 million in cash, and the purchase price could reach $24.3m. if certain milestones are reached.