Blue Square - Israel Announces it has Completed the Reorganization of its Real Estate Activities and Transferred its Real Estate
14 September 2009 - 12:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
ROSH HA'AYIN, Israel, September 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Further to its announcement dated August 17, 2009 (as included in
the Q2 results announcement) and the announcements dated January
12, 2009 and December 30, 2008, regarding the reorganization of its
real estate activities, Blue Square - Israel Ltd. (NYSE:BSI) (the
"Company") announced today that the Company yesterday completed the
reorganization of all of the Company's real estate properties,
which were transferred to Blue Square Real Estate Ltd. ("BSRE"),
(held 78.45% by the company) according to the Israel Tax Authority
approval as of March 31, 2009 ("the transfer date"). Following the
completion of the transaction, all real estate property is held by
BSRE, and all the food retail activities are now centralized in its
subsidiary Mega Retail Ltd. ("MEGA"), formerly known as Blue Square
Chain Investments and Properties Ltd. ("BSIP") . Within the
transaction, all real estate property (and related leases) held by
MEGA (formerly BSIP) and MEGA's subsidiaries were transferred to
BSRE. Most of the real estate properties are leased back by BSRE to
MEGA for its retail activities under terms similar to the existing
lease agreements between BSRE and MEGA, regarding other real estate
assets. The periods of these existing lease agreements were
extended to match the period of the new lease agreement - 10 years
from the transfer date, with an additional option period of five
years exercisable by MEGA subject to various terms of the
agreement.. Within the completion of the transaction, BSRE signed a
loan agreement with a Bank, granting it a loan of NIS 250 Million
for a period of up to 15 years. The loan agreement includes several
financial terms and covenants and BSRE's obligation that its rights
in 15 of the real estate properties (including the rights according
to the lease agreement with MEGA) transferred are to be encumbered
to the bank as a security to such loan along with BSRE 's
obligation to withhold any floating charge on its assets without
prior consent from the Bank. Blue Square-Israel Ltd. is a leading
retailer in Israel. A pioneer of modern food retailing, in the
region. Blue Square currently operates 202 supermarkets under
different formats, each offering varying levels of services and
prices. For more information, please refer to the Blue
Square-Israel Ltd. website at http://www.bsi.co.il/. Forward
Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of safe harbor provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements may include, but are not limited to, plans or
projections about our business and our future revenues, expenses
and profitability. Forward-looking statements may be, but are not
necessarily, identified by the use of forward-looking terminology
such as "may," "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends,"
"plans," "believes," and words and terms of similar substance.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events,
results, performance, circumstance and achievements to be
materially different from any future events, results, performance,
circumstance and achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other
factors include, but are not limited to, the following: our ability
to compete effectively against low-priced supermarkets and other
competitors; the effect of the recession in Israel on the sales in
our stores and on our profitability; quarterly fluctuations in our
operating results that may cause volatility of our ADS and share
price; risks associated with our dependence on a limited number of
key suppliers for products that we sell in our stores; the effect
of an increase in minimum wage in Israel on our operating results;
the effect of any actions taken by the Israeli Antitrust Authority
on our ability to execute our business strategy and on our
profitability; the effect of increases in oil, raw material and
product prices in recent years; the effects of damage to our
reputation or to the reputation to our store brands due to reports
in the media or otherwise; and other risks, uncertainties and
factors disclosed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, risks,
uncertainties and factors identified under the heading "Risk
Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended
December 31, 2008. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date
of this press release. Except for our ongoing obligations to
disclose material information under the applicable securities laws,
we undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking
information contained in this press release. Contact: Blue
Square-Israel Ltd. Elli Levinson-Sela General Counsel &
Corporate Secretary Telephone: +972-3-9282670 Fax: +972-3-9282498
Email: DATASOURCE: Blue Square Israel Ltd CONTACT: Contact: Blue
Square-Israel Ltd., Elli Levinson-Sela, General Counsel &
Corporate Secretary, Telephone: +972-3-9282670, Fax:
+972-3-9282498, Email:
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