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The Tel Aviv District Court ruled that Bank Hapoalim has been patient and faultless in its dealings with Mordechay Zisser’s Elbit Imaging.
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Mordechay (Moty) Zisser / Tamar Matzrafi
/ By Efrat Peretz /
The Tel Aviv District Court today appointed a receiver for Europe-Israel MMS Ltd., through which Mordechay (Moty) Zisser controls real estate company Elbit Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: EMITF; TASE: EMIT). Judge Eitan Orenstin ruled in favor of Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) in its lawsuit against Europe-Israel in the matter of the sale of Elbit Imaging shares.
“The creditor bank acted faultlessly, ” ruled Judge Orenstin. “The showed patience toward the companies time after time, but they failed to meet their commitments towards the bank, and Zisser even announced that he did not meet his commitment toward the bank.”
As for Europe-Israel’s position that Zisser would keep his job, Judge Orenstin said, “I do not accept that it is vital for Zisser to stay on as manager, but my decision relates to debt settlement negotiations by Elbit Imaging.”
Judge Orenstin appointed Giora Erdinast as receiver of Europe-Israel, and ordered him to submit a report within two weeks. He will not be allowed to sell Elbit Imaging shares at this time.
Bank Hapoalim petitioned the court to order the exercise of Zisser’s liens for Europe-Israel’s NIS 1 billion debt to the bank. The main collateral was a lien on Elbit Imaging shares. The bank cited the halt in payments and the reduction in value of the collateral in its possession. Europe-Israel said that the interest payments were negligible, and that the bank acted out of unacceptable motives, because it was not a party in the negotiations between the company and the foreign funds in reaching a debt settlement for Elbit Imaging.
“I found solid grounds for exercising the bank’s liens, and chose to accept the bank’s testimony, ” said Judge Orenstin. “Europe-Israel has not met the repayment dates. In contrast, the company’s version relies on Zisser’s testimony, which relies on shaky foundations. I insisted that the company refrain from offering testimony by financiers who would support Zisser’s testimony. The company provided no documents supporting his version, either. I was persuaded that the collateral’s situation had deteriorated.”
Published by www.globes-online.com
