Paz gas company acquired four branches of the small supermarket chain "Emanuel" for more than NIS 30 million

The Paz gas company acquired four branches of the small supermarket chain "Emanuel" for more than NIS 30 million. The branches located in Rishon Lezion, Holon, Raanana and Ramat Hasharon will operate under the name "Super Yoda" - the chain of municipal supermarkets that Paz acquired in March this year. Emanuel is a family chain in which the main shareholders are several brothers who started out in Rishon Lezion. The chain has five branches, which offer goods at premium prices.
"There are full of small food chains that are currently on the shelf, but the problem is that everyone wants insane prices," says a senior at one of the major food chains. "The price that Paz paid is high, but these are the prices at which deals are closed during this period. They could just as well open four new supermarkets in one of the neighborhoods that are currently being built around the country, at a cost of about NIS 2 million per branch, here they paid four times. She herself, in the purchases she made this year, is the one who raised the price standard in the industry from the beginning. "
Paz acquired Super Yoda in March 2021 for NIS 170 million, with the chain having 17 branches. In August, Paz made a huge deal when it acquired the Amir brothers' fresh market for about NIS 2.1 billion. The current Freshmarket deal is awaiting approval from the competition commissioner.
There have been quite a few claims in the industry that the acquisition of Freshmarket when it is at its peak, and at such a high price, was made possible only because Paz operates without a core of control, and therefore the managerial echelon is dominant in decision-making.
The past year has been a record year in sales and profitability for the food retailer. Freshmarket was acquired at an activity value multiplier for a cash flow operating profit of 8.7 (compared to a value multiplier of 4 and 5.7 for Rami Levy and Shufersal, respectively), and at a price that reflected a 14% premium on Freshmarket's value on the stock exchange at the time of the agreement. However, Freshmarket's gross profit margin is much higher than that of the chains mentioned.
Paz's latest deals are being made in preparation for the expected decline in demand for fuel, starting in 2030. Paz is trying to become a customer company, by using the common customer base of about 250,000 Yellow, Pazgaz and gas stations.
A similar move, but on a much smaller scale, was made this year by the Sonol fuel company, when it acquired seven branches of the City Market chain for about NIS 30 million.
The urban supermarket market has been boiling in recent months, and many companies want to benefit from the increase in home sales and the high premium that municipal supermarkets charge their customers. Thus, Shufersal pays hundreds of thousands of shekels, and sometimes even millions of shekels, to container owners, in order to convert them into Shufersal Express branches. Electra Consumer, which acquired control of Bitan Wines, also recently announced that it has received the concession to open Saban Elban stores in Israel.