Exit for Yossi Mashiach - Stop Market supermarket chain sold for NIS 600 million

The David Ezra Group, owner of the Herzliya Market chain, is acquiring the Stop Market chain for NIS 600 million. The merger will create a group of 22 branches with annual revenues of approximately NIS 1.5 billion. This represents a significant exit for the Mashiach family, which founded the chain about 26 years ago. Stop Market reports annual EBITDA of NIS 60 million and net profit of NIS 40 million, with no financial debt. The existing business relationship between the companies formed the basis for the negotiations.

The David Ezra Group, owner of the Herzliya Market chain, has signed an agreement to acquire the Stop Market supermarket chain for NIS 600 million. The merger will create a group operating 22 branches, with annual revenues of approximately NIS 1.5 billion. This is a significant exit for the Mashiach family, which founded Stop Market and owns it. Stop Market's annual revenue stands at NIS 880 million, annual EBITDA totals NIS 60 million, and net profit is NIS 40 million. The chain employs about 250 workers, shows annual sales of approximately NIS 43,000 per square meter, and has about 270,000 club members. The company has no financial debt. Stop Market operates seven days a week, from morning until night, and focuses on relatively large branches with an emphasis on premium products. The chain was founded about 26 years ago by Yossi Mashiach from Yokneam. The negotiations for the deal were first revealed last March in Calcalist, and culminated in a signing this week. The David Ezra Group will receive financing from Bank Hapoalim totaling nearly half a billion shekels to execute the deal. However, Poalim Equity, the investment arm of Bank Hapoalim, will not enter the deal as a shareholder. Ezra plans to lead the merged group to an IPO on the stock exchange, no earlier than 2028, after implementing an expansion plan. He intends to do so at an ambitious valuation of NIS 2 billion. This is a target not without risks, both operational and macroeconomic. Ezra, a farmer from Moshav Ramot Naftali in the Upper Galilee, founded the holding group bearing his name in 1990. The company focuses on marketing fruits and vegetables and operates about 100 fruit and vegetable departments under franchise with various retailers. In addition, it operates the Herzliya Market chain, which currently has 11 branches, with five more expected to open during the coming year. The chain has undergone a transformation in recent years from traditional fruit and vegetable stores to a full-fledged supermarket chain. The company's franchise activity is spread mainly across chains and retail groups including the Dabah meat group, Super Sapir, Mahsanei HaShuk, and also Stop Market, which operates 11 branches. The existing business relationship between the companies actually formed the basis for the negotiations that led to the current deal. The David Ezra Group acquired the Herzliya Market chain in 2021, and during 2024 developed it into a full retail chain. Additionally, the company operates fruit and vegetable departments in numerous kibbutzim and holds a logistics center covering about 4,500 square meters at Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan.