US businessman and Yeshiva student Eli Rosenberg has offered to buy control of El Al Airlines for $75 million, according to a report in Bizportal. The $75 million would be invested in the company, in exchange for an allotment of shares that would constitute 49.99% of the company.
To prove his seriousness, Rosenberg transferred $15 million to an account at Mizrachi Bank. But his offer has a deadline, the end of August.
El Al’s board of directors had already approved a proposal for a $250 million loan with state guarantees from the Israeli Ministry of Finance, but the government’s proposal would end up nationalizing the airline. Rosenberg’s offer could change the board’s plans.