Israeli Post office on the way to stock market

The Postal Authority is on its way to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange sometime in the next few months. In recent days the Government Companies Authority (GCA) presented a draft of a proposed law to privatize the Postal Authority, including the Postal Bank.

The draft bill was sent for comment to the relevant bodies: the Finance, Communications and Justice ministries; as well as the treasury’s accountant general and also the Shin Bet Security Service.

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation is expected to vote on the proposed law after committee approval. The GCA will prepare a prospectus for the issue. According to the proposal, the state will sell 49 percent of the shares by May 2008. In the second stage the state will sell control of the Postal Authority to a strategic investor, who will commit to integrating the post office’s infrastructure into the banking system – and thereby compete with the large banks.

In September 2006 the cabinet made a decision in principle to privatize the post office, and later ordered the GCA to prepare the draft bill.

At the same time, a special team, lead by Accountant General Yaron Zelekha, is examining interest in the purchase. The group has met over the past few months with several local and foreign institutions that have shown interest, including the Deutsche Post, a number of insurance companies and medium-sized banks.

The GCA is also working on making legal changes to the authority’s status, in particular relating to the Postal Bank.