Melisron Cancels Gold Mall Deal as Tel Aviv Market Awaits Index Update Amid Wall Street Declines

Melisron has withdrawn its merger request to acquire 51% of Gold Mall in Rishon Lezion from Migdal, effectively canceling the deal. The Israeli Antitrust Authority imposed stringent conditions and raised numerous questions, complicating the agreement. The original deal, signed in September 2025, valued the purchase at 818 million shekels, with Migdal owning 75% and the Gindi brothers holding 25%. Recently, Migdal bought out the Gindi brothers’ shares for 840 million shekels, signaling skepticism about Melisron securing regulatory approval.

Meanwhile, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is preparing for its quarterly index rebalancing on August 6, which will involve over 7 billion shekels in combined buy and sell orders from exchange-traded funds. A key highlight is the inclusion of Palo Alto Networks shares into the TA-35, TA-125, and technology indices through a fast-track process. Initially, Palo Alto’s weight will be capped at 1.25%, rising to 2.5% in November and 5% in February, subject to index rules. This adjustment alone is expected to generate about 800 million shekels in demand from ETFs.

Ahead of the market open in Tel Aviv, Wall Street closed lower with the Dow Jones down 0.6%, S&P 500 down 0.2%, and Nasdaq down 0.1%. Brent crude oil prices also fell slightly by 0.6%. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields stand at 4.59%, while Israeli 10-year bond yields rose to 3.87%. The Tel Aviv 35 index closed down 0.1% and the TA-125 was unchanged. The energy infrastructure sector led gains with a 1.4% rise after the Electricity Authority froze new power connection requests for server farms, causing Mega Or’s stock to drop 6%.