Why is Israel’s largest shopping mall valued so low?

This week, brothers Yigal and Moshe Gindi sold their remaining holding (25%) in the Kenyon Hazahav (“Golden Mall”) shopping mall in West Rishon LeZion to insurance group Migdal for NIS 840 million. The price represents NIS 400 million for a quarter of the mall and a further NIS 440 million for the new floor still under construction which was wholly owned by the Gindi brothers.

The deal values the veteran mall at NIS 2.04 billion. This is relatively low pricing for the shopping mall sector. The Ramat Aviv Mall, for example, is recorded in the financial statements of Melisron at NIS 3.2 billion, but it has less than a quarter of the area of Kenyon Hazahav.

In the coming weeks, the Competition Authority is due to decide whether it will approve a deal signed in September 2025 for the sale of half of Kenyon Hazahav to Melisron at a valuation of NIS 1.6 billion.

Migdal first invested in Kenyon Hazahav in June 2008, when it bought 75% of the mall from the Gindi brothers for NIS 1 billion. In September last year, a conditional agreement was signed between Migdal and the Gindi brothers and Liora Ofer’s malls giant Melisron for the sale of 51% of the rights in the mall for NIS 818 million, valuing the mall at NIS 1.64 billion (with the possibility of Melisron’s share rising to 70%).

In the original deal, nearly twenty years ago, an entire floor (floor minus 1) was empty and was not bought by Migdal. At the time, the insurance company did not pay for the rights to the additional floor, and it was stipulated in the original agreement that once construction of it was complete, Migdal would be obliged to buy 75% of it. Now, as mentioned, it has been bought in its entirety, as the Gindi brothers part from the mall completely.

“Counting money on the stairs”

Moshe Gindi told “Globes”, “We made a good deal, for us and for Migdal. You count the money on the stairs. Both sides understood that this is one of Israel’s leading malls, with full occupation and high rents.”

Gindi says that the parties estimate that the Competition Authority will not in the end approve the acquisition of control by Melisron, which currently holds eighteen malls in Israel with aggregate commercial space of 542,000 square meters. “We and Melisron are both in this loop, and we don’t see anything coming of it. We understood that the merger would probably not be approved, and so we decided to move on.”

The assessment on the market is that Migdal will continue to look for a partner in ownership of the mall who will be capable of running it. The insurance company manages assets amounting to NIS 600 billion, but this is the only mall in Israel that it holds directly.

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“Like a fifth brother”

Kenyon Hazahav was built in 1993 and became Israel’s largest shopping center. It has over 110,000 square meters of space and more than 400 tenants. Last year, a renovation costing tens of millions of shekels was completed at the mall, adding another thirty tenants. Tal Gindi-Friedman, who manages the mall, talked in a recent interview with “Globes” about the family sentiment towards the veteran asset. “I put my whole life into it,” she said. “The mall is like our fifth brother. It was always very much present at home.”

What’s next? Moshe Gindi: “The mall has indeed been with us for a long and meaningful period. We love it very much, but we also believe that we have done a good deal here. We can make more money. We’ll go back to the real estate business, to construction and development, as we have always done.”

In the background to the deal is a legal dispute over the new “Platinum” floor (on floor minus 1) which is due to open in the coming weeks. The Gindi family’s company Dirat Yokra claims in the NIS 800 million suit that Migdal thwarted its intention of opening a food market floor on the lower level.

According to an industry source, Migdal was determined to compete with other malls in the area on fashion, and so insisted that the new floor should have a strong fashion mix. The battle, which has been going on for more than a decade, has reached the Supreme Court. Despite the fresh deal, the legal proceedings continue, and a further hearing is due to be held next month.

The valuation in the deal does not place Kenyon Hazahav in the top rank of shopping malls in Israel, at least according to the valuations in the financial statements of public companies in the sector. Melisron’s Ofer Mall in Ramat Aviv has the highest valuation, at NIS 3.2 billion. After it come the Ofer Hakiryon mall in Haifa (NIS 3.1 billion) and two Azrieli malls, in Malha in Jerusalem (NIS 2.7 billion) and in Tel Aviv (NIS 2.3 billion).

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on June 30, 2026.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.