Clal Holdings' board of directors approved the purchase of the Max credit card for NIS 2.47 billion

After endless postponements, struggles, and threats - Clal Holdings' board of directors today (Thursday) approved the purchase of the Max credit card company by Clal Insurance, in a deal worth NIS 2.47 billion. Now all that remains is to sign the paperwork.
The board of Clal Holdings realized that against a series of dominant and powerful owners, it had to examine what was right for the company in terms of business, and finally decided that this transaction was the jumpstart that Clal Insurance was looking for to move up the league. The line of opponents was long, starting with Ram Blinkov, the director general of the treasury, through Moshe Barkat, the supervisor of the insurance, and ending with Alfred Akirov, the largest shareholder of Clal.
Clal Insurance's deal mimics the model of the Direct Insurance Group: a direct financing company is worth more than the group's insurance company. The purchase of Max by Clal Insurance, which will use its distribution capabilities through insurance agents, should create competition for the banking system in the field of off-bank credit. Max holds consumer credit in the amount of about NIS 7 billion and credit of about half a billion for small businesses.
Clal Insurance's deal mimics the model of the Direct Insurance Group: a direct financing company is worth more than the group's insurance company. The purchase of Max by Clal Insurance, which will use its distribution capabilities through insurance agents, should create competition for the banking system in the field of off-bank credit. Max holds consumer credit in the amount of about NIS 7 billion and credit of about half a billion for small businesses.
"Kelal Holdings is the fourth largest insurance company in the market and Max is the third largest credit card company in the market. Therefore, the merger between the two creates a medium-sized financial company that can compete with the banks - but still does not come close to their size," noted Kelal insiders.