Avihai Stolero and listed company Themis G.R.E.N. (TASE: TMIS), controlled by Erez Goldschmidt, Rafael Lipa and Amit Gal (owner of underwriting company Orion), are buying Mey Eden (Eden Springs), which has 40% of the mineral water market in Israel, from Primo Water, at a business valuation of NIS 400 million. Stolero and Themis G.R.E.N. are buying 50% of the company each.
NIS 150 million of the consideration will be paid in cash, while the remainder will be in the form of assumption of debt.
Mey Eden competes with other prominent mineral water brands in Israel: Neviot, and Ein Gedi. It has also historically specialized in mineral water in barrels, in which the other brands are scarcely active, with over 100,000 customers in that niche.
The company also supplies filtered water bars to both business and private customers, an activity in which it competes with the dominant player, Strauss’s Tami 4, which changed the way water is consumed in Israel, and it also supplies coffee and food to offices.
Themis G.R.E.N. is a real estate developer in Israel and overseas. It has a market cap of NIS 66 million, after a 36% drop in its share price this year. Stolero is invested in a variety of businesses, in defense, engineering, real estate, and energy.
The talks on the deal continued for nearly a year. The negotiations took a long time because, at first, Jacques Beer’s Tempo Beverages was given an option to buy a stake in Mey Eden, but the option was conditional on approval by the Competition Authority, which was not forthcoming. Stolero and Themis G.R.E.N. then decided to press ahead with the negotiations with Primo Water without Tempo.
Mey Eden has a reputation as a good company with a stable business that suits the taste of the Israeli consumer, which could explain why it has changed hands so many times over the years.
In 2003, company founder Roni Naftali and his brothers sold 20% of their shares to European food giant Danone, as part of a deal to merge the two companies’ water activity in Europe. That deal took place at a valuation of €410 million (NIS 2 billion) for Mey Eden, and the Naftali brothers raked in some NIS 400 million.
In 2007, Mey Eden bought out Danone’s share in the joint venture in Europe for just €86 million, 76% less than Danone had paid to set it up.
In 2013, European private equity firm Rhone Capital bought Mey Eden for €70 million net, valuing the company at €240 million minus its debt.
In 2016, Primo Water bought Mey Eden for an undisclosed sum, and now, nine years later, it is parting from it.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on October 23, 2025.
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