Asaf Ezra Appointed CEO of Peninsula Ahead of Planned Delisting by Meitav

Asaf Ezra, currently CEO of Meitav Financing, will become the new CEO of Peninsula following Jackie Cohen's departure. Meitav announced that Ezra will assume the role starting September 2, 2024. Ezra has served as a director of Peninsula since 2019 and has led Meitav Financing for the past eight years, a position he will leave upon joining Peninsula. Previously, Meitav's management, led by CEO Ilan Raviv, proposed acquiring Meitav Financing's loan portfolio to Peninsula, which was declined, a move that would have effectively merged the two companies.

Jackie Cohen will remain Peninsula's CEO until the end of August and will then become a partner and CEO of Barclays Real Estate Ventures, owned by businessman Moti Green. Peninsula is a subsidiary of Meitav Investment House. Last year, reports revealed Meitav's plans to delist Peninsula and transform it into Meitav's private credit arm, mirroring a similar strategy by Phoenix when it delisted Gamma, a public credit company it controlled.

In line with this strategy, Meitav launched a tender offer in April 2024 to purchase public shares of Peninsula. The offer brought Meitav's ownership to 88.1%, just short of the 90% threshold needed to delist Peninsula from trading. Meitav continues efforts to acquire the remaining 1.9% of shares, valued at approximately 14 million shekels, including a recent purchase of 245,000 shares (0.1%) at the end of June 2024.