El Al aircraft
El Al aircraftPhoto by Tomer Neuberg/FLASH90

Businessman Meir Gurvitz, based in New York, flew in to Israel on Tuesday, for a series of meetings with a number of senior sources involved in the El Al bid.

Gurvitz held the meetings in order to promote his bid to acquire the airline's shares.

There are currently several bidders over the control of the airline, but Gurvitz has proposed a new, "friendly" model, whereby he is willing to share ownership with the current controlling shareholders in Knafaim Holdings.

According to sources close to Gurvitz, the meetings may well "reshuffle the deck" and make Gurvitz the ideal candidate for both El Al and the State.

The Israeli Treasury is pushing to have a public offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange already on September 15, for immediate financing, to be followed by debt financing.

The outline that the Treasury promotes also calls for financing of $400 million - $150 million in capital and $250 million in debt.

Gurvitz is planned to return to the US immediately following the current series of meetings in Israel.