Sunday February 4, 6:22 am Eastern Time

Delek in talks to buy shares in Israel's Formula

JERUSALEM, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Israel's Delek Group said on Sunday its Delek Investments unit was in talks to buy shares in software holding company Formula Systems (Nasdaq: FORTY - news). At the same time, Delek Investments is in talks to buy shares in Formula from Israeli businessman Yitzhak Tshuva, who holds five percent of Formula shares, Delek said.

Tshuva is the controlling shareholder in Delek Group.

"We believe Formula is a good company and it might be a good business for us," Delek president Avinoam Finkelman told Reuters. "We will invest in Formula but we are not sure in what form."

He declined to say how many shares or how much Delek is willing to pay for the shares.

Finkelman said the talks are in the initial stages, adding "I am not even sure a deal will be concluded."

Last week, Formula chief executive Dan Goldstein said Formula was seeking a private placement of up to $80 million to expand operations, including buying stakes in other companies.

Goldstein said Formula was approached by a number of investors and was considering all proposals.

Finkelman also said that other than Formula, Delek is not looking into anymore investments.

"We have enough businesses so we have no need for additional busineses," he said.