Ofer Yanai Advances Institutional Investments and Power Plant Acquisition at Nofar Energy
Ofer Yanai, owner of Nofar Energy and the Hapoel Tel Aviv basketball team, has had a busy week with significant developments in his energy company. On Friday, Nofar Energy's stock dropped 4.5% to a valuation of 8 billion shekels following the announcement of a private issuance in its subsidiary, Nofar Energy Europe. The issuance involved Migdal Insurance acquiring preferred shares worth 250 million shekels, granting Migdal priority in dividend payments starting at 8.5% annually and increasing to 13.5% over 15 years. The funds will support Nofar's energy and data center operations in Europe. This follows a similar investment by Phoenix Insurance four months ago, which invested 450 million shekels under comparable terms.
Earlier on Friday, Nofar reported advanced negotiations with Phoenix and other investors to acquire their 47.5% stake in the Reindeer power plant near Kfar Saba. The plant operates on natural gas with an 865 MW capacity. The acquisition price is approximately 855 million shekels, with potential future contingent payments. Nofar is also considering purchasing an additional 35% stake in adjacent land, possibly for a new power plant, energy storage, or data center. The acquisition would be made through Nofar Israel, a rapidly growing subsidiary. Other major stakeholders in the plant include Generation Capital (27.5%) and Rafek Energy (25.5%). The plant's expected completion date is 2030.
This week also saw Nofar appoint Dina Ben Tal-Ganansia, former CEO of El Al Airlines, as an external director. Additionally, Nofar announced ongoing talks with Meitav Investment House for a 200 million shekel investment in Nofar Israel, representing 8.7% equity at a pre-money valuation of 2.1 billion shekels. This follows an earlier investment by Clal Insurance, which acquired 18.75% of Nofar Israel at a 1.3 billion shekel valuation earlier this year, marking a 44% increase in value. In May, Nofar entered the data center sector by signing an agreement to purchase 32 dunams of land in Shoham and establish a data center partnership for 361 million shekels.
Nofar is also pursuing a dual listing on NASDAQ, similar to Enlight's recent move. Last year, the company approved a substantial compensation package for Yanai, who became CEO, worth nearly 800 million shekels if Nofar's valuation reaches 16 billion shekels within three years. At the time of approval, Nofar was valued at 3.7 billion shekels and currently trades at 8 billion shekels.
These developments highlight Yanai's aggressive strategy to expand Nofar Energy's footprint through institutional partnerships, strategic acquisitions, and diversification into data centers and energy storage.
