"I put up a lot of money and discovered that whenever I wanted to talk to Dankner about business strategy, he preferred to talk with me about his appearance," Argentinean businessman Eduardo Elsztain said in an interview with Channel 2 News on Tuesday, in which he slammed Nochi Dankner.
Earlier this year, Dankner recruited Elsztain to inject capital into IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) to rescue the company. Elsztain subsequently announced that he was cancelling the investment agreement and he then teamed up with IDB's bondholders to wrest control of the company from Dankner.
Elsztain's criticism of Dankner followed yesterday evening's bondholders meeting, which was held after Tel Aviv District Court Judge Eitan Orenstin rejected a motion by IDB, the Israel Securities Authority, and the Official Receiver to postpone it. The results of the bondholders meeting have not yet been disclosed.
In the interview, Elsztain asked the IDB bondholders to vote in favor of his consortium's bid for the company. "I think that they know us better than the consortium, and the better they get to know us, to better they will realize that our bid pays more," he said.
Responding to claims that he had not raised the necessary capital, Elsztain said, "To date, I've been asked to deposit $25 million, which I did. I was later asked to deposit $100 million, which I did.
An aide to Dankner said in response to Elsztain's remarks, "After Eduardo Elsztain betrayed Nochi Dankner, who brought him the IDB deal, he now dares to lie, defame, and invent a reality which never existed. We wish Elsztain a Happy Hannukah and suggest that he remember the words of the sages: these criticisms are a reflection of his own faults."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 4, 2013
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