18 months ago, special purpose vehicles manufacturer Hatehof Ltd. was fighting for its future, after falling into a liquidity crisis, and sought a debt settlement. But the past few weeks, there has been some encouraging news from the company.
Hatehof CEO Alon Gotal has already marked 2013 as a year of growth, due in part to the winning of a Ministry of Public Security tender for the supply of 15 Saar (Storm) fire engines. The value of the tender won by the company, which also produces riot control and fire fighting vehicles, is estimated at NIS 30 million.
Hatehof, which was acquired by KCPS & Co. Ltd. portfolio company Brand Industries Ltd. (TASE:BRND) from David Oron, has 100 employees. Hatehof's main plant is at Tziporit industrial zone near Upper Nazareth, and it has another plant in Ashdod.
Gotal says that the new fire engines will be delivered under a tight deadline. "With the tender win and Hatehof's participation in two other Ministry of Public Security tenders, we shortly intend to expand our workforce by 15%. It can definitely be said that these are good times for Hatehof," Gotal told "Globes".
Among the future tenders for the expansion and upgrade of Israel's Fire and Rescue Services that Hatehof will participate in, is a tender scheduled to be published within two months in which it will offer it's Alon and Eshed fire engines. The tenders are for the upgrade of Israel's fire engines fleet, following the equipment shortages and obsolescence uncovered in the wake of the Carmel fire in late 2010.
"We are seeing a revival in the firefighting system, and it is important that the Israeli authorities prefer Made-in-Israel equipment," says Gotal. "After a long and hard period, we're starting to see better times."
This was Hatehof's second win in an Israeli government tender within two months, after winning an Israel Police tender for riot control vehicles.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 3, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012