Exclusive: One of the most powerful family partnerships in Israel's business community is set to break up. The Nakash Brothers Group, in which brothers Avi, Joe and Rafi Nakash have been partners for the past 50 years, is about to begin the process of dissolving the partnership in Israel, "Globes" has learned.
The move is expected to affect, among other things, the group's holdings in Arkia Airlines, the Orchid hotel chain, and Ampa Group, which owns Eilat Port, and is soon to hold an IPO on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE).
The Nakash Group is held by a trust controlled by Avi Nakash, with a 33% stake Olive Trust, which holds a similar stake, and the Joe and Rafi Nakash trusts. The Group includes a wide range of private companies and partnerships, which hold the group's main assets.
The dissolution of the partnership will be a complex process, and at this stage it is still unclear what form it will take. The liquidation is not supposed to apply to the joint holdings abroad, and the group hopes that the liquidation will be carried out by agreement and without the need for court intervention beyond procedural issues.
"We are two against one"
The background to this dramatic separation is the continued dispute between the brothers over the employment of Avi Hormaro, who serves as a senior manager in the Group's companies in Israel. While Avi Nakash is leading a legal battle against him, claiming that he took millions of shekels from the Group, Joe and Rafi Nakash do not share the criticism of the former CEO. Mediation between the brothers was recently held in Miami, which was intended to end the dispute, but it failed.
In May 2024, Avi Nakash's trust filed a request with the court to conduct a derivative lawsuit against Hormaro. Nakash claimed that Hormaro, who served for years as CEO and chairman of the board of directors of the group's companies, took rights worth "tens (if not hundreds) of millions of shekels" from the group's companies. Avi Nakash also claimed that Hormaro conducted deals with companies in the group without required approvals, and acted in a conflict of interest.
Hormaro claims that all his actions were carried out legally and with the approval of the Nakash brothers. His lawyer said these were "unfounded, idle claims," and that Hormaro's conduct was "professional and flawless." Joe and Rafi Nakash do not share Avi's claims against the veteran CEO, and one of the brothers even told Globes, "We are two against one. Hormaro did a wonderful job."
Settlement with Hormaro
In July, a settlement was signed between the Nakash Group and Hormaro, in which Hormaro would transfer NIS 5 million to the Group and remain in his position until January 2025. After that, the Group would be able to terminate his employment. Hormaro is transferring some of his rights in corporations to the group, and retaining other rights. It was also agreed that Ampa, the holding company controlled by the Nakash Group and Shlomi Fogel, will acquire Hormaro's 3% stake in Ampa Israel 2016, and will transfer half of the proceeds to the Nakash Group.
Despite the settlement, Avi Nakash asked to continue the lawsuit and even received permission from Judge Michal Agmon-Gonen to increase the amount he was claiming from a few million to NIS 65 million. According to him, the settlement agreement reveals, "Additional rights that Hormaro took for himself in other corporations, and the decision of elements in the Nakash Group to leave him with sums of money and rights that constitute a large part of what he stole."
Hormaro claimed that Avi Nakash is seeking to torpedo the settlement agreement despite knowing about the negotiations to sign it. Companies in the Group he managed, including the Yamit Hotel and the Orchid Hotel, argued against the Nakash Trust's request that it was not a "genuine request aimed at examining the best interests of the companies, but rather a personal family dispute that the applicant presents as a legal proceeding."
Hormaro recently asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit outright.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 24, 2025.
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