Few participants arrived this morning at Beit Hahayal in Tel Aviv for the Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY) joint conference for holders of the company's 13 bond series. Executives of financial institutions did not make an appearance, sending representatives instead.
"I can't decide whether to believe the company or not, in view of past incidents," a private bondholder told "Globes" during the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, voting cards were distributed and the results will be sent to Tel Aviv District Court Judge Varda Alshech within 48 hours. She is then expected to grant several days for objections to be filed, after which she will decide whether to approve Africa-Israel's debt settlement, the implementation of which will involve considerable legal work.
After the meeting, Africa-Israel CEO Izzy Cohen told "Globes" that the company was embarking on a new path. "In the past six months, the company's management has worked very hard day and night in order to create a debt settlement that benefited all the parties involved," he said.
"With today's approval of the settlement, and following its approval by the court, Africa-Israel will embark on a new path and a new era of development, new construction, creation of value, and asset improvement will begin. I very much hope that this settlement will enable the company to meet its commitments and serve the interests of everyone involved."
"Globes": Do you feel that the company and foreign real estate markets have emerged from the crisis?
Izzy Cohen: "We're in a period of stabilization, in a period in which we definitely see a very good chance of gains in the near future. Africa-Israel has decided to resume activity on several projects around the world where we operate. We definitely think that when these markets recover in the not too distant future, we want to be ready with our properties. This is why Africa-Israel is now working on resuming construction and creating these properties that we so strongly want to get off the ground, in order to boost the value of the company and its properties."
What about the sale of assets?
"We're now focusing on construction and resuming projects."
Africa-Israel's share price rose 2.3% by early afternoon today to NIS 39.55, giving a market cap of NIS 2.14 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 14, 2010
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