Azorim Investment, Development and Construction Ltd. (TASE: AZRM) chairman Shaya Boymelgreen is refocusing the company on the domestic market, and selling off foreign assets.
Yesterday, Azorim acting CEO Yaakov Siso told bondholders, "We sold our tourism businesses, and we're seeking to sell our activities in Eastern Europe, and the land we bought in Canada, the US, Brazil, and India." Holders of all three of Azorim's bond series (6, 7, and 8) attended the meeting.
In Israel, Azorim is currently building 1,552 apartments in 24 buildings in 12 projects. The projects target the middle class. Siso said, "We have a large inventory of land, and we're on the verge of obtaining building permits for most of the lots, so we'll be able to respond to the market quickly."
Azorim currently owns land zoned for 7,500 apartments.
As for the sale of Azorim Tourim Ltd. and plans to sell real estate developer Lagna Holdings Ltd. (TASE;LGNA), Siso said that the acquisition of Azorim Tourism was a bad deal, as were the other real estate purchases, including through Lagna subsidiaries operating in Eastern Europe, the US, Israel, and elsewhere.
Siso said, "These were very bad deals, made at high prices, and which turned out to be wrong. In the test of history, these were poor investments, to put it mildly."
Azorim invested NIS 500 million in Lagna, but currently books the company at a value of minus NIS 30 million.
In explaining Azorim's sell-off plan, Siso concluded, "Companies fall and rise on their liquidity balances, not on sales. That's why we're so careful. We're trying to get rid of these activities; we'll sell what we can at a profit, and what we can't sell - we'll wait."
Boymelgreen owns 63.8% of Azorim through Boymelgreen Capital Ltd. (TASE:BMGN). Azorim's share rose 3.3% in early trading on the TASE today to NIS 23.60, giving a market cap of NIS 797 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 17, 2009
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