Businessman Eliezer (Bebo) Kobo recently bought a 460-sq.m. home on a 1,995-sq.m. plot with a sea view in Arsuf for NIS 16 million. The deal was part of the creditors arrangement of brothers Eliyahu and Moshe Shushan and brothers Gad and Dov Slook, owners of Fore Group Management and Investments. The house was the Shushan brothers' flagship property.
Sources inform "Globes" that the property was the last one with a lien, held by Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI), in the framework of the Slook brothers' creditors arrangement. The sale was decided in November, but only now was the sale completed, with half of the sale price being paid.
The Shushan brothers and the Slook brothers built one of the most intriguing communications companies in Israel, which operated primarily in awakening markets, such as Africa and India. The two sets of brothers encountered financial trouble in December 2013, however, acquiring private debts amounting to tens of millions of dollars, among other things due to regulatory changes in the countries in which they operated. The brothers later proposed a debt arrangement, which was submitted to the court through Advocates Ophir Sabari and Hilit Arel-Shechter from the Sabari-Farkash& Co. law firm. According to the proposal, the debts to the creditors totaled $65 million, among other things in respect of mortgages taken to buy various properties.
The proposed debt settlement was initially heard by Judge Varda Alshech, and was later transferred to Judge Eitan Orenstein.
The $32.5 million creditors arrangement approved reflected repayment of at least 50% of the two pairs of brothers' private debts to the banks and other creditors, including Meir Shamir. The Shushan and Slook brothers actually gave all their assets in Israel and overseas to the banks. As part of the settlement, the brothers have so far sold private assets, including luxury homes in Tzahala, Arsuf, Ramat Aviv, and Karmei Yosef in order to pay debts to Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI), Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF), Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT), Bank Otsar Hahayal, Mustang Mezzanine Fund, and other creditors.
Before the court approved the arrangement, it was approved at a creditors' meeting. The trustee appointed for the creditors arrangement, Adv. Avihai Vardi, was quoted as expressing satisfaction with the agreement. The receiver appointed for the properties attached in favor of Bank Leumi is Adv. Bnayahu Lebel. Four properties were attached in favor of Bank Leumi: two penthouses on Achdut HaAvoda St. in Givatayim were sold for NIS 5 million each, and a property of Moshe Shushan in Eilat was sold for NIS 4 million.
The property sold to Kobo, the husband of model Miri Bohadana, is the most value of the four properties, and the last of the debtors' assets to be sold in Israel. The overseas holdings of the Shushan and Slook brothers are slated for sale during the coming year in the framework of the overall arrangement.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 27, 2015
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