Foreign Funds Eye Israeli Investment Houses Amid Ownership Shifts

Major Israeli investment houses are reportedly attracting interest from foreign and domestic buyers, signaling a potential shift in the industry's ownership landscape. Following a period of record growth, some major players are considering selling their stakes. "Foreign funds from the US and Europe are approaching entities and looking to acquire investment houses," a source in the industry told Globes. "Some insurance companies also want to buy."

The speculation intensified this week with reports that Gilad Altshuler and Kalman Shaham, owners of the Altshuler Shaham investment house, are exploring the sale of their holdings. This follows a similar move by the Barkat family with their stake in Meitav. The news has prompted other investment firms to field inquiries about their owners' willingness to sell.

"We are just looking for acquisitions," one firm stated, while another confirmed receiving "a lot of calls." A third noted, "There is interest. We are constantly being approached by foreign entities. We are not for sale at these prices; the future is still ahead of us, we are just getting started."

The stock market has reacted to the rumors, with Altshuler Shaham's share price surging significantly on high trading volume, despite not being part of the TA-125 index. An insider confirmed to Globes that the matter is "under discussion."

Altshuler Shaham's official response stated that the owners "periodically examine offers and opportunities that come to them regarding their holdings in the company's shares according to their considerations." The company's valuation has fallen from a peak of 4.5 billion shekels to about 1.5 billion shekels, despite a recent 70% stock increase over the past three years. This decline is attributed to significant fund withdrawals in the provident and pension sectors, totaling over 142 billion shekels and 20.5 billion shekels respectively, due to relatively weak returns.

In contrast, Meitav, now Israel's largest investment house by market value, is also seeing its controlling shareholder, BRM (owned by the Barkat brothers), seek a buyer for its 24% stake. However, the founding Stepak family, holding 27%, has stated they will not join such a sale.

Collectively, Israel's public investment houses manage approximately 1.27 trillion shekels. In the first half of 2026, these six firms reported a 44% increase in net profit, reaching 774 million shekels on revenues of 4 billion shekels.