Israeli businessman and arms merchant Ya’acov Nimrodi, who only last week purchased a controlling interest in the afternoon daily Ma’ariv, has now sold half of those shares to Amos Schocken, publisher of the Israeli dailies Ha’aretz and Hadashot, and Australian-Jewish businessman Jack Lieberman.
Nimrodi, who on Feb. 23 acquired 87 percent of Ma’ariv shares from the estate of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, informed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of the latest deal on Sunday.
His new partners each control 21.7 percent of the former Maxwell holdings to Nimrodi’s 43.5 percent.
Nimrodi also reportedly agreed to assume the debts incurred by Ma’ariv during Maxwell’s brief ownership, which have been estimated to be between $10 million and $50 million.
Schocken, meanwhile, appeared on Israel Radio to allay fears voiced by Ma’ariv and Hadashot staff members for their jobs. He said there were no plans at present to close Hadashot, an afternoon paper that is reported to be losing heavily.
But Schocken would not confirm or deny rumors that large-scale dismissals were likely at Ma’ariv and Hadashot as Ma’ariv girds for an all-out battle with its chief rival, Yediot Achronot.
Yediot Achronot has the largest circulation of any Israeli newspaper. Ma’ariv is second but lags far behind.
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