Leumi Partners-led consortium eyes 20% stake in Edeltech

One of the largest deals in the Israeli energy sector is expected to be signed shortly, namely the sale of 20% of power plant companyEdeltech for NIS 2 billion to a consortium of investors formed by Leumi Partners, the very active investment arm of Bank Leumi headed by Viktor Vakrat.

Edeltech is currently 100% owned by Ori Edelsburg (66). In the deal, it will receive the fantastic pre-money valuation of NIS 10 billion. Half of the proceeds will go to the company in return for an allocation of 10% of its shares. The other NIS 1 billion will go to the bank account of Edelsburg himself, who will sell part of his holding. The terms of the deal being formulated also set a target of floating Edeltech on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange within three years, or even a dual flotation in Tel Aviv and New York.

Beyond these details, which are still at the MOU stage, the deal sheds light on one of the most intriguing businesspeople in Israel. Ori Edelsburg has built a power plant empire almost alone. Over the years he has accumulated more and more assets, to become one of the strongest players in the local electricity market. The deal with Leumi Partners will be the first time that Edelsburg has parted from any holdings in the company that he has built up over the past three decades, and the flotation, if it happens, will force a businessperson known for jealously guarding his privacy to become exposed to public gaze.

20% of power production in his hands

Edeltech currently holds five active power plants, some of them with partners (Dorad, Ramat Hovav, Hagit, Ashdod, Ramat Negev) producing altogether 2.9 gigawatts (about 20% of Israel’s total power production). It is also constructing a plant at Sorek that is due to become operational in 2029.

Market sources say that the deal being put together represents a dream valuation for the company. “They still have a lot of work to do to close the deal,” one source said. “Due diligence has yet to be done at the power plants, and an investor consortium has to be formed with financial institutions and international financial players.”

The power production industry has become a hot favorite recently, with soaring share prices and many acquisition deals. One of the main reasons for the growing demand for power production and the jump in the value of companies in the industry is the need for data centers supporting AI applications.

Market sources estimate that the deal will reflect an EBITDA multiple of 13-15, which is very high for the sector. It should be stressed that the numbers are not known with any certainty, since Edeltech is a privately-held company, and Edelsburg keeps the numbers to himself.

Edelsburg is considered a tough businessperson who does not shy away from confrontations with the state and with his partners in the power stations. “He’s a businessman who likes to run ahead, for better or worse,” a market source says of him. “There’s always a question over whether Edeltech can be a public company given the very private way in which it has been run up to now.”

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After his release from military service in the early 1980s, Edelsburg went to study in New York. To finance himself, he worked for the Ministry of Defense procurement delegation. He founded Edeltech in 1989 together with his late father, Joseph Edelsburg. In the beginning, the company operated in brokerage and trade in defense products, and was the Israel representative of French state-owned aerospace company Aérospatiale (since broken up and privatized).

In 1994, the US government opened an investigation into suspicions that a deal brokered by Edeltech for the purchase of helicopters by the IDF had been inflated by $10 million. The Ministry of Defense subsequently cancelled Edeltech’s defense export license. In an article in 2016, sources speaking on Edelsburg’s behalf were quoted as saying that the investigation had ended without finding any wrongdoing and that he had had nothing to do with the matter for twenty years.

Edelsburg’s first venture in the power production industry was the construction of the Dorad power plant together with contractor Uri Dori in the early 2000s. This was Israel’s first privately-held power plant. It became operational in 2014. Edeltech currently owns 19% of the shares in it.

At the beginning of the current decade, Edeltech was a 15% partner in the purchase of the 1,200 megawatt Orot Yosef power plant at Ramat Hovav from Israel Electric Corporation at a valuation of NIS 4.25 billion. The company went on to buy a similar stake in the 776 megawatt Hagit East plant, and in December 2024 it won the tender to build the 900 megawatt Sorek power plant.

In addition, Edeltech built two small private power plants, in Ashdod and Ramat Hanegev, which together produce 191 megawatts, and bought out the stake of Turkish company Zorlu Enerji in these plants two years ago for NIS 124 million. Edeltech is currently working on expansion of the Dorad and Hagit plants.

A market source who knows Edelsburg well says of him, “It’s true that Ori has a history, but in the end the man knows how to make money in this industry, and good money too. He’s no sucker and keeps a close eye on the details. For all the hype in the industry, what he has done is proven in the numbers.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on April 12, 2026.

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