A two-stage procedure has been formulated to privatise Israel’s largest fresh produce grower and exporter Agrexco.

Plans drafted by minister of agriculture Shalom Simhon and the director general of the government's companies authority are now beginning to gain momentum.

Part one of the process is evaluation of the company’s value and the share-value of each of the companies which now own Agrexco - the government (which has 50 per cent of the shares), the Plants Production and Marketing Board (25 per cent), and Tnuva (25 per cent).

The second phase, according to minister Simhon, will be the selection of international strategic partners who will be willing to buy 51 per cent of Agrexco's shares, thus gaining control of the company. He said: "At the moment, we are talking about a multinational food conglomerate which has a vast shelf-space throughout the world."

The matter will be brought for approval by the government's Privatisation Ministerial Committee which will publish a tender, with Simhon predicting finalisation by the end of 2007.

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