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The petition states that the cause for request is Ganden’s unpaid debt of NIS 6.7 million ($1.9 million) for a bloc of securities that Schimmel bought as part of the “friends offering” made by IDB in February 2012. The two foreign companies had a contract with Ganden, under which, two weeks after the offering, they sold back to Ganden the 250, 000 IDB shares and 83, 000 warrants, and that Ganden promised to pay them in 12 months at the value of the deal or at the payment date, whichever was higher.
On March 11, 2013, the value of the securities was NIS 6.7 million, but Ganden did not pay Schimmel’s companies, either then or subsequently. The petitioners asked the court to appoint Adv. Michael Spiegelman as temporary liquidator of Ganden.
The Schimmel family, a leading real estate player in the UK, owns 9% of Ganden, a private company controlled by Dankner. The Schimmel family also used to own stakes in Dankner’s private carrier, Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd., which was sold to IDB in a controversial deal. In October 2013, Schimmel stepped down as a director at IDB, after ten years.
Ganden owes the banks NIS 530 million, including NIS 450 million toBank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) and the rest to Mizrahi Tefahot Bank(TASE:MZTF). Ganden’s shareholders are guarantors to NIS 240 million of the debt to Bank Leumi and NIS 40 million of the debt to Mizrahi Tefahot Bank.
The Schimmels also have a large financial interest in IDB, because of an agreement signed in 2009 between one of their companies and IDB unit Property and Building Ltd. (TASE: PTBL). The Schimmels will receive 12% of profits from the sale of properties whose purchase they initiated. In 2013, they received $3.8 million from the sale of Barney’s in Chicago, and they will receive tens of millions from the sale of the HSBC building in New York.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com
