Israeli Antitrust Authority Approves Major Retail Acquisition by Ronen Ganon

Israel's Competition Authority has approved the acquisition of Multi Retail Group by Ronen Ganon, the owner of the Zol Stock retail chain. Ganon, along with his company Zol Peh, which he co-owns with two partners, will purchase 70% of Multi Retail's shares for NIS 168 million. The deal, finalized just a month ago, received swift approval from the authority, headed by Michal Cohen.

Multi Retail Group operates several well-known retail chains, including the DIY store Ace, the automotive products retailer Auto Depot, and the home furniture retailers Beithili and Urban. The shares were acquired from the investment fund Kadma, which had previously bought Ace in 2016 for NIS 145 million. Kadma later took Ace public in 2021 at a valuation of NIS 400 million, successfully recouping its initial investment.

However, following the IPO, Multi Retail's valuation plummeted to just NIS 54 million by 2023. This decline was attributed to significant write-downs resulting from the acquisition of Beithili, Urban, and AD Design, which led to Multi Retail failing to meet its financial covenants with banks.

Ronen Ganon, a Haredi businessman from Safed, recently acquired a controlling 50% stake in Zol Stock about six months ago from the Yohanhanof chain for NIS 48 million. The plan is to streamline the acquired company and merge it with Zol Stock within two years, creating a combined entity with 155 stores and an annual turnover of NIS 1.7 billion.