Digital Insurer Wishure Buys Altshuler Shaham Pension Arm

Wishure, a digital insurance company founded in 2018 by Emil Weinshel and Nitzan Yahalomi, has announced an ambitious expansion, agreeing to acquire the pension and provident fund operations of Altshuler Shaham. This move follows Wishure's earlier acquisition of the established insurer Ayalon in 2021. The company's strategy, spearheaded by Weinshel, who previously managed Ayalon, and significant investor Zvi Barak, aims to transform Wishure from a small digital insurer into a large insurance and finance group.

Zvi Barak, a billionaire who made his fortune selling his medical device company, Kaisaria Medical Electronics, to CareFusion, invested approximately NIS 260 million in Wishure. This investment was crucial for Wishure's acquisition of Ayalon, enabling the integration of Ayalon's established infrastructure and customer base with Wishure's digital technology and agile management approach. The combined entity has seen significant growth, with its stock value reportedly increasing by 1,000% in three years to NIS 2.4 billion.

The latest deal with Altshuler Shaham, expected to be finalized soon, represents a major leap for the partnership. They will be joined by Yair Levinstein, the CEO of Altshuler Shaham's public division, in this significant transaction. This acquisition is poised to dramatically scale the group's operations within the Israeli financial sector.