Jewish billionaire Bill Ackman, who manages one of the world's largest hedge funds, made his first investment in Israel on Wednesday, purchasing a 5.18% share in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) together with his ex-Israeli wife Neri Oxman.
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The purchase came after the Israeli bourse announced a secondary offering of 17,156,677 shares, or 18.5% of its market value, which were owned by three Israeli banks.
The banks have exited their positions, having agreed to sell their shares on the condition of receiving a NIS 230 million ($62 million) dividend distributed by the stock exchange in early January. Additionally, they received NIS 90 million ($24 million) from the latest sale of their shares.
The offering is open to both local and foreign investors and is expected to fetch NIS 242 million ($63 million). TASE said it would "use the net proceeds from this offering for investment in its technology infrastructure."
Ackman, the CEO and founder of New York-based Pershing Square Capital Management, has garnered much public and media attention in recent weeks after he launched a campaign calling for the ouster of Harvard President Prof. Claudine Gay, which expanded into a campaign against antisemitism and the policies on antisemitism at higher education institutions. Gay has since stepped down due to plagiarism allegations.
The exchange said in a statement that “The transaction drew robust interest from investors across Israel, the United States, Europe, and Australia, reflecting a strong vote of confidence in both the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and the Israeli economy at large."