Monday July 30, 4:40 am Eastern Time

Israel's Formula to spin off Mashov unit

TEL AVIV, July 30 (Reuters) - Israel's Formula Systems Ltd (Nasdaq: FORTY - news) said on Monday it will spin off its subsidiary Mashov Computers Ltd to holders of Formula ordinary shares by a dividend to be distributed on August 28.

Formula has declared a dividend of two Mashov ordinary shares for each outstanding Formula share held on August 12. The Mashov shares to be issued represent around 72 percent of outstanding Mashov shares.

"By separating our venture capital activities from our large, public subsidiaries...we believe that Formula will have a more efficient corporate structure that will enable us to achieve improved operating results and further enhance shareholder value," said Formula Chairman and Chief Executive Dan Goldstein.

The spin-off of the Mashov shares will enable Formula shareholders separately to hold interests in publicly traded companies through their Formula shares and in smaller privately held firms through their Mashov holdings, Formula said.

Formula's Tel Aviv-traded shares were up 1.22 percent to 83 shekels late in the morning, while Mashov shares had risen 1.93 percent to 2.32 shekels. Formula closed up 0.07 percent at $19.32 on the Nasdaq on Friday.