Former Makhteshim Agan Industries Ltd. (TASE: MAIN) CEO Avraham Bigger is organizing a group of investors to acquire control of Agrexco, the agricultural produce exporter, which is under a stay of proceedings. He showed the potential investors a recovery plan for the company prepared by Trigger Foresight Ltd. last month, which says that the company's heavy expenses structure requires a streamlining plan and immediate debt settlement.
The recovery plan proposes consolidate of Agrexco's Tel Mond and Ashdod terminals, reducing its US terminal, and consolidated its European operation at two branches in the UK and the Netherlands, which will save €23 million a year.
Despite an annual turnover of €500 million, Agrexco is financially troubled and under a stay of proceedings, in part due to losing €8 million a year because of its lease contract with Ofer Shipping Ltd.
Bigger is one of the Israeli and foreign parties interested in the offer to acquire Agrexco in the tender top purchase published by trustee Adv. Shlomo Nass last week.
Bigger (65) was an associate of IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) chairman Nochi Dankner for many years, and held key positions in subsidiaries. Bigger restructured Shufersal Ltd. (TASE:SAE) when he was chairman of the supermarket chain. He was appointed chairman and CEO of Makhteshim in 2006, and left 18 months ago as the agrochemical company's ran aground and its profits collapsed. Dankner sold Makhteshim to China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) earlier this year.
Bigger and Dankner severed their last ties early this year, when Bigger resigned as a director from IDB's mobile carrier, Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL).
Agrexco's main competitor is Mehadrin Tnuport Export LP (TASE:MEDH), which is controlled by companies controlled by Dankner and Yitzhak Tshuva - Property and Building Ltd. (TASE: PTBL) and The Phoenix Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PHOE1;PHOE5), respectively.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 10, 2011
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