ISRAEL TO SELL ITS SHARE OF ZIM

ISRAEL TO SELL ITS SHARE OF ZIM    The State of Israel has decided to end its role as a passive partial owner of Zim Israel Navigation Co., an ocean container carrier.
   The government on Thursday issued a tender to sell its 48.6-percent of Zim, shared in a partnership with Israel Corp. a holding company with semiconductor, chemical, and petroleum subsidiaries,
   Yaron Jacobs, a government minister, said the sale could take eight months to complete. Analysts estimate the carrier’s value at $420 million.
   Israel has made an effort in recent years to divest itself of state-owned companies. Zim is the first non-banking company to be put on the auction block since the government sold a $289-million stake in Israel Chemicals in 1998.
   As a passive minority partner, Israel had little say in Zim’s affairs. The government’s tender requires Zim to give more ground to minority shareholders.