It's official: The Tiv Taam deal is off. Arcadi Gaydamak is not going to buy the controlling interest in the supermarket chain. He is however going to buy a 10% stake in Enter Holdings, controlled by Amit Berger, for NIS 30 million.

Out of the sums Gaydamak  already paid, Kobi Tribitch - one of the owners of Tiv Taam - will receive $2 million.

Upon his return from a visit to Russia, the Russian-Israeli billionaire insisted on cutting the price for the controlling interest in the retail chain by $10 million. Controlling shareholder Kobi Tribitch refused and the takeover was called off.

Sources near the deal claim that the main reason Gaydamak changed his mind about buying the non-kosher chain was that the deal is more complicated than he originally thought, and he realized he wouldn't be able to realize his dream, of transforming it into a kosher chain that would appeal to everybody.

Reportedly the technical reason the deal fell through is - none other than its mediator, Ronny Mana, who apparently demanded a $10 million fee. Gaydamak refused to shoulder that fee on top of the price.

On a Friday ten days ago, Tiv Taam announced that Gaydamak  was buying its 51% controlling interest at a company valuation of NIS 820 million, which was about 80% above its market capitalization on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at that point.

Gaydamak then set the entire nation abuzz by announcing that the famously non-kosher chain of supermarkets would stop selling pork products. Tiv Taam hastened to release an announcement that it would stop selling pork products if its board of directors and management were convinced that was a sound thing to do from a business perspective.

The billionaire also said he aimed to double its sales turnover within two years during which time he'd open another 100 outlets.

Gaydamak  had closed the deal to buy Tiv Taam within hours. At the time he may no have fully grasped the complexity of the Tiv Taam group and operations, which not only markets non-kosher products: it produces and imports them too. Tiv Taam owns 75% of the Mizra meat processing company, which owns a non-kosher slaughterhouse for chickens, a fish plant in Jaffa, and a sweeping imports business.

Also, one of Tiv Taam's strongest points was the unique customer experience, including non-kosher products.

Just two days ago Enter Holdings, which co-owns Tiv Taam, sought to override rumors sweeping the marketplace of trouble between the dealmakers, and stated that the deal was proceeding perfectly well, and should close once the permits were in place.

Eli Shitzer adds:
In not entirely unrelated news, the Gaydamak Index is sinking 5.5%.

TheMarker launched the Gaydamak Index to track the four companies that he bought inside a month, or at least agreed to buy inside a month.

Shares of Tiv Taam are losing 11% on the news that the Russian businessman won't be buying and transforming it after all.

Gilon Investments shares are down 4% and real estate company Ocif, the biggest of the lot, is off by 4%.

Shares of Petro Group, which operates gas stations and convenience stores in the United States, is losing 2.5%.

With reporting by Gali Berger