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(Bloomberg) -- Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners received the green-light from Israeli regulators to double its stake in Phoenix Financial Ltd., an approval that allows the Saudi-backed investment firm to proceed with a lucrative deal.
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Affinity can buy an additional 4.95% stake in the financial services firm from Centerbridge Partners and Gallatin Point Capital at 37.5 shekels ($10.3) a share, a spokesperson for Israel’s Capital Market, Insurance and Safety Authority told Bloomberg News.
Phoenix’s share price has surged over 50% to around 58.5 shekels apiece since mid-July, when the Miami-based firm announced the $128.5 million deal to buy an identical stake.
The initial purchase took place 10 months into the war in Gaza that had spread to other fronts. Israel has since turned the tide of the conflict by decimating Hezbollah in Lebanon and is nearing a truce with Hamas, which has been all-but defeated. The fall of the Assad regime in Syria late last year also removed a key Iranian ally in the region.
Kushner has held up the deal as a sign of his company’s confidence in the war-racked country’s economy.
“Investing in Phoenix in July 2024 was a decision rooted in my belief in Israel’s resiliency and the fundamentals of Phoenix’s business,” Kushner said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “Six months later, the increased value of our shares, reaffirms my conviction — both in Israel’s strength and the growing promise of Phoenix.”
Affinity has other investments in Israel, including a stake in S Shlomo Holdings’ car and credit division.
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Kushner is the son-in-law of US President-elect Donald Trump, and served as his senior White House adviser in his first term. Kushner played a pivotal role in the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and some Arab nations in 2020. Trump is now expected to try to bring Saudi Arabia into the accords.
After leaving his government role, Kushner set up Affinity in 2021, with the backing of Middle Eastern state-backed investors, including about $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Last year, it raised an additional $1.5 billion from the Qatar Investment Authority and Abu Dhabi-based Lunate, bringing its assets under management to $4.6 billion.