Steven Mnuchin’s Liberty Capital targets credit card company Cal in ambitious acquisition push
A strategic partnership with Menora Mivtachim aims to take control of the credit card company.
The race to acquire control of the credit card company Cal is heating up. Calcalist has learned that the American investment fund Liberty Capital, led by former US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, is in talks with Menora Mivtachim Holdings to team up and compete in the tender being held by Discount Bank for the sale of a 72% controlling stake in Cal.
Negotiations between the parties have been ongoing for several weeks, and if they evolve into a collaboration, it could occur later in the tender process, which is being managed by the American bank JPMorgan on behalf of Discount. The sale is being led by Hila Himi, CEO of Discount Capital, the bank’s real investment arm, alongside the group’s CEO, Avi Levi.
The data room was opened last week, and interested parties who have signed the required documents will be able to review non-public information about Cal to decide whether to submit a non-binding offer in the first stage of the tender. According to JPMorgan’s rules, no collaborations can take place at this stage, and each entity must submit a non-binding offer on its own. At the binding offer stage, however, the tender rules allow entities to collaborate. If talks between Menora Mivtachim and Liberty Capital progress, the collaboration could occur at that point.
Liberty is being guided through the process by the investment bank Jefferies, which has been involved in several major capital market transactions in recent months.
Why are the Israeli insurance company and the American fund interested in joining forces in the bid for Cal? The motivations of the two entities differ. Liberty is an investment fund established in 2021, focusing on high-tech investments, including in Israeli companies. While the fund is led by someone who served as Treasury Secretary under President Donald Trump, it lacks experience in the credit card sector—particularly in Israel. As a result, Liberty is seeking a partner with expertise in the field. This contrasts with other American investment funds, such as Warburg Pincus, which acquired Leumi Card from Bank Leumi, or Centerbridge and Gallatin Point, which controlled Phoenix until the end of 2024. These funds specialize in finance and have invested directly in the sector.
On the other hand, high interest rates benefit the financial sector, and last year Liberty Capital held talks to acquire 25% of Phoenix Agencies, a subsidiary of Phoenix Finance, valued at $900 million. This deal was also considered by Affinity Partners, a fund led by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, which was also founded in 2021 and raised a similar amount of capital from Gulf sovereign wealth funds.
The improving geopolitical situation means that Liberty is not alone in the field. Other foreign entities are also interested in acquiring Cal and are expected to visit the data room in the coming weeks. As Calcalist revealed, international investment funds such as Apax, Centerbridge, JCF, and Blackstone are among those interested. These funds were absent from the race to acquire Isracard, which has been ongoing for the past two years, for several reasons, with the war being just one factor. The foreign funds interested in Cal, focused on private equity, prefer to acquire assets in a more focused process, negotiating with one party—the controlling shareholder or owners—and then applying for regulatory approvals. This approach is possible with Cal but not with Isracard.
