Background

In 1933 in Germany, Alexander Salkind left his home along with his family and relocated to what was then Mandatory Palestine. Prior to that he had owned factories in Germany and England producing parts for radios. Alexander's father had been an industrialist in Russia, and owned factories producing steam engines.^[9]

Alexander's son Gershon (born Georg, in 1928) studied at the Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv and later at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. Gershon served in the Armored Corps^[9] of a predecessor organization of the modern IDF.^[9]

Early history

Electra Tower, Tel Aviv, headquarters of Elco

Alexander Salkind founded Elco in 1949, with J. Spielberger and Discount Investments, as an electromechanical factory in Ramat Gan. The company became the sole supplier of power transformers to the Israel Electric Corporation, and the company also exported its own products. In 1963, the company's securities were listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.^[10]

Alexander's son, Gershon Salkind, joined the company in the early 1950s, and in the early 1970s management of the company was transferred to him.

The company opened a new manufacturing plant in Ramat HaSharon in the early 1970s. Meanwhile a factory for the production of electricity meters, under the subsidiary Elcomet, was established in Safed/Tsfat. In 1973, the subsidiary Elco Contracting and Services, headquartered in Herzliya, was established and engaged in the installation of electrical and electromechanical equipment. In 1975, the control and computer division Elcontrol were founded. A new subsidiary, Elco Fire Detection was established to engage in the assembly and maintenance of fire detection and automatic extinguishing systems.

In 1987, a number of shareholders attempted to acquire control of Elco. By purchasing the stakes owned by Discount Investments and the Danot Investment Company, Gershon Salkind thwarted the attempted takeover, and increased his share of the company to 80%. It was from this point on that Salkind made mergers and acquisitions a core strategy of the business.^[11]

In 1989, the company acquired the competing company Katzenstein Adler.^[12] In the same year, the company began a process to reorganize the group's structure, so that at the end of the process it became a holding company.

1990–2009

Haifa's International Sammy Ofer Stadium, an Electra Construction project

In 1991, Elco acquired Electra from CLAL Industries, and expanded its operations into the field of air conditioning, elevators, and contracting.

In the late 1990s, Electra Real Estate was established, which acquired income-generating real estate in Europe and the United States.

Elco acquired the French conglomerate Brandt in 2002^[13] for 250 million euro, with unions welcoming the takeover.^[14] The resulting conglomerate was one of the largest white appliance manufacturers in the world, and engaged in the manufacture and marketing of products such as ovens, stoves, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and freezers, and operated under the name Elco-Brandt for several years. It was sold in June 2005 for a profit of 100 million euro.

In 2008, the group's transformer manufacturing activity was sold to the Swiss industrial group Von Roll Holding for ILS 290 million, with a pretax capital gain of ILS 120 million on the sale, despite the global financial crisis.^[15]

2010–present

In February 2014, the company changed its name from Elco Holdings Ltd. to Elco Ltd.

In 2016 Elco sold the land in Ramat HaSharon where the company's manufacturing plant had been located. It also sold LAT, a residential real estate subsidiary in the US, and land in China. All of these transactions contributed to making the company debt-free for the first time, ushering in a new era of M&A.

Yitzhak Navon railway station in Jerusalem, Escalators Project of the Year 2021

In January 2017 it was announced that Electra Consumer Products had reached an agreement to buy the cellular network Golan Telecom for ILS 350 million,^[16] and the deal was completed in April 2017.^[17] Electra Consumer Products sold Golan Telecom in August 2020 to Cellcom — one of the "big three" mobile operators in Israel — for a price of ILS 513 million in cash,^[18] making a capital gain of ILS 163 million.

In September 2017, the company acquired the operations of the Globus Max Cinema Chain for ILS 144 million (US$40.9 million), beating five other bidders.^[19]

Upon the death of Gershon Salkind in September 2017, his sons Daniel and Michael became the controlling shareholders and were appointed co-CEOs of the company.^[20]

In July 2019, Elco acquired Granite Hacarmel, which owns natural gas distributor Supergas, for ILS 770 million.^[21]

In August 2020, Calcalist reported that Bosch and Electra were to set up a HVAC manufacturing facility in Israel, in Ashkelon, investing US$29.6 million in the facility.^[22] The products manufactured in the facility will be distributed worldwide by Bosch, according to the report, with the companies expecting to control 10% of the European heat pump market within four years.

Also in 2020, Elco's subsidiary in Poland, Electra M&E Polska, signed an agreement with US electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla, to perform electromechanical work at its first European production facility, Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg,^[23] in a deal worth US$80 million. According to Calcalist, Electra M&E Polska has also completed electromechanical projects for German auto marques Volkswagen, Audi and Mercedes-Benz in deals totaling more than US$75 million.^[24]

In January 2021 Electra acquired control of Amnon Mesilot, which owns 100% of Afikim, one of Israel's main bus transport companies, which it rebranded to Electra-Afikim. At the time of acquisition, Afikim was operating 840 buses on 250 routes, with annual ridership of about 60 million passengers.^[25] In May of the same year the company acquired Egged Ta'avura for ILS 200 million, resulting in it becoming the country's third largest bus operator.^[26]

In 2021 Elevator World magazine named the escalator at Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon railway station the global Project of the Year in the "Escalators (New Construction)" category.^[27] Elco and long time partner OTIS carried out the project.^[28]

In May 2021 Elco acquired the supermarket chain Yeinot Bitan through its Electra Consumer Products subsidiary, with the deal including Yeinot Bitan's network of Mega-branded stores.^[29]

In October 2021 Electra Consumer Products signed a 20-year franchise agreement with the US-based international convenience store chain 7-Eleven to operate the brand in Israel, with an option to extend the agreement for a further 50 years.^[30][31][32]

Also in 2021, Elco took a 29.8% stake in IDB Investments, the owner of several well known companies in Israel.^[33]

Publicly traded subsidiaries

The company operates as a array of subsidiaries, four of which are publicly traded:

The Gershon Salkind Scholarship Fund

Elco allocates US$1 million annually through its subsidiaries to the Gershon Salkind Scholarship Fund to sponsor academic studies for outstanding candidates.^[43]

Contribution to communities

The group and its employees contribute to a range of community causes. Elco community partners include:^[44]

The Eitan Berglas School of Economics at Tel Aviv University lists Elco as a donor.^[45]