Defense Contractor Elbit To Buy Arms Maker IMI For $523M

March 11, 2018 | Israel’s finance ministry announced on Sunday that the state-owned weapons manufacturer Israel Military Industries (IMI) would be sold to defense contractor Elbit Systems, for 1.8 billion shekels ($523 million). IMI is best known as the maker of the Uzi submachine gun and the Galil. Elbit will pay another 100 million ($29 million) depending if IMI overseas sales goals for the year. Under the terms of the agreement, IMI will close its Ramat Hasharon factories and relocate them to the Negev, in the Ramat Beka industrial zone south of Beersheba, The Times of Israel reported. The move is set to free up in-demand land for housing. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said in a statement. “The agreement that was reached continues the Finance Ministry’s policy of clearing [industry] from high-demand areas for the public benefit. The move of the factories to the Negev will allow constructions of thousands of housing units in the heart of a high-demand area, while strengthening industry and employment in the Negev.”