An international financial news service has reported that 50 percent of the RMS Queen Mary has been sold to an Israeli investment fund and an unknown partner for $8 million through a joint venture owned in equal shares.

The sale to Mydas Investment Fund Ltd. was revealed Sunday in Globes Online – the Internet version of the news service that specializes in coverage of Israel’s business arena — while Save The Queen spent the weekend working feverishly to meet Tuesday’s do-or-die deadline to complete its $43 million purchase of a lease to operate the Queen Mary and 64 acres of surrounding property.

Save The Queen won the right to buy the lease at an Aug. 14 auction and was moving toward meeting an original Oct. 22 closing deadline when a federal judge halted the sale Oct. 19 because of a claim from a small company. When a $1.15-million settlement of that claim was approved Nov. 1, a new deadline of Nov. 6 was set.

The unexpected stop and start has apparently put Save The Queen’s ability to close in doubt. A source close to Save The Queen expressed some uncertainty Sunday about whether or not the group would be able to align its financing again on such short notice.

If Save The Queen cannot meet Tuesday’s deadline, the right to purchase the lease would fall to opening bidder O&S Holdings, which has offered $41 million. A spokesman for O&S has told The District it is ready for that possibility.

Terms of the sale of RMS Queen — for example, whether the purchase refers to the city-owned ship, the surrounding land, or both — were not given in Globes Online’s short report. Local officials could not be contacted for comment.

Mydas Investment Fund Ltd. stock was up $5.00 today on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Tags: Mydas Investment Fund Ltd., O&S Holdings, Queen Mary, Save The Queen