Adv. Yossi Segev, the attorney for Arcadi Gaydamak, today announced that he was buying Gaydamak's 67.4% stake in Ocif Investments and Development Ltd. (TASE: OCIF) for NIS 110 million. The announcement was made during a Tel Aviv District Court hearing on the request by Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF) for the appointment of a receiver on the shares. Segev added that he would pay the bank the proceeds from the sale within five business days at the personal request of Gaydamak.
Segev told the court that although a higher offer for Ocif in the amount of NIS 140 million had been received, it included conditions that did not guarantee payment. He did not mention the other party, but it may have been Aviv and Company owners Doron Aviv and his sister Dafna Harlev from whom Gaydamak originally bought Ocif.
Gaydamak owes Mizrahi Bank NIS 158 million on the loan, including interest and fines, he took to buy Ocif. The bank was demanding foreclosure on the lien on the Ocif shares guaranteeing the loan after the shares fell in value to below the terms of the loan.
Segev said that he was the only party to have conducted due diligence on Ocif and to agree to buy the company under certain conditions, which include the transfer of all of Gaydamak's shares free of all debt and liens.
Judge Danya Kareth Meyer said that the price at which Segev was buying Ocif was very close to the shares' value on the TASE. It could therefore be assumed that a sale of the shares by a receiver would achieve a lower price. She added that the purchase price did not cover Gaydamak's debt to Mizrahi Bank. The bank may forego the balance.
The court also imposed a temporary lien of up to NIS 78 million on Gayadamak's assets in Israel, including his shares in public companies and his house in Caesarea. The lien is in favor of Levi Kushnir and a Hong Kong businessman, from whom Gaydamak acquired Ameris Holdings Ltd. (TASE:AMRS.B1). They sued him for breach of a put option on the sale of the company.
In a separate case, the Tel Aviv District Court imposed a temporary attachment on Gaydamak's shares in Ocif Investments and Development Ltd. (TASE: OCIF) up to a value of NIS 9.8 million, or on the sale of the shares up to this amount. The attachment is in favor of Uri Shani, who is suing Gaydamak for breach of contract.
Ocif said in response that because of media reports the sale of the controlling interest in Ocif and its subsidiary Ogen Yielding Real Estate Ltd. (TASE:OGEN), trading in the companies' shares has been suspended and that the TASE has demanded clarifications.
Ocif rose 6.1% to NIS 31.94 before trading was suspended, giving a market cap of NIS 175 million. This would make Gaydamak's 67.4% stake worth about NIS 118 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 25, 2008
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