Railways may sell NIS 2b in bonds in first-ever issue
The Finance Ministry has been in talks with Israel Railways over the train operator's first-ever bond issue to finance development projects, TheMarker has learned. Under the plan being discussed, the railways would sell its first debt in the first half of next year, offering some NIS 2 billion to institutional investors. The proceeds would be used exclusively for development projects, not for operations, which are already subsidized by the government. Among the projects likely to be covered are the NIS 7 billion fast train line to Jerusalem, electrification of lines and trains at a cost of NIS 6 billion, and new maintenance centers costing NIS 3.5 billion. The state has been financing these projects to date. (Avi Bar-Eli and Daniel Schmil )
Shlomo Maoz helps launch Internet investment house
Shlomo Maoz and Ami Segal rolled out their new Internet investment house and brokerage Monday morning: Hon Line ("hon" is Hebrew for "capital" ). The new service will provide househholds with "dramatic savings," said Maoz at the press conference. "After the cottage cheese and cellular revolutions, the time has also come for a consumer revolution in the financial and pension sector," said Maoz, former chief economist of the Excellence Nessuah brokerage. "Large financial institutions are exploiting the public's lack of knowledge and fears of the capital markets to rake in excessive profits at the expense of all our savings," he said. Maoz was unceremoniously ousted by Excellence after launching a blistering attack in January on "the Ashkenazi establishment," calling Bank Leumi "the whites' bank." (Eran Azran )
SHL gets U.S. approval for mobile heart monitoring equipment
SHL Telemedicine has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Smartheart EKG device, which monitors the rate and regularity of heartbeats via a smartphone, the company said on Monday. The device, which had already won European CE clearance, operates on Blackberry, iPhone and Android platforms and performs EKGs, delivering the results via SHL's network to a doctor or cardiologist. The product marks a new entry into the mobile health industry, where global industry sales are expected to grow from $500 million in 2010 to more than $8 billion in 2018, said SHL, which is traded on the Swiss Exchange. (Yoram Gabison ).
Makhteshim expanding with new aroma chemicals facility
Makhteshim Agan, the Chinese-Israel chemicals company, said it is expanding operations in Israel with the opening of a new production facility based on a unique chemical process for fine aroma chemical products. The unique process was developed with a research team led by Prof. Moti Herskowitz of Ben-Gurion University. A new NIS 100 million facility in Ramat Hovav employing 30 will be used to make the Aleol product line, scheduled to be released later this year. The new operations will strengthen the aroma segment, where the company develops produces and markets fine aroma chemicals to the fragrance industry. Makhteshim will operate the facility jointly with Firmenich, a Swiss company in the perfume and flavors industry. (Yoram Gabison )
