The owners of the Subaru motor vehicle import agency have decided to part company. Daniel Berkovitz and Moshe Branovsky each hold 50% of the agency. A dispute between them and a third partner, Yosef Moskowitz, ended several years ago, when they bought him out.
Differences of opinion have led the partners to decide to split, but each wishes to remain with the agency and oust the other. Given this gridlock, the two men decided to appoint trustees pending a settlement. Adv. Dr. Yossi Segev was appointed trustee for Branovsky, and Adv. Ram Caspi for Berkovitz.
The trustees were reportedly the ones to propose the Buy-Me-Buy-You (BMBY) mechanism, recently used by the Elite partners, namely the Federman and Strauss groups. The agreement provides that the mechanism will go into effect shortly, and either party will be able to make an offer to the other within 30 days.
The recipient of the offer, it is proposed, will be able to purchase the offeror’s shares at the price he names. The offeree, it is agreed, will make known his decision within 30 days of the offer, and will have another 30 days in which to pay.
The Subaru agency was in the past one of Israel’s most prosperous motor vehicle agencies, actually leading that sector for a number of years, with the highest annual sales figure. In its good years, the Subaru agency sold 400,000 vehicles. Its standing began to be eroded, however, at the beginning of the ‘nineties, with a sharp drop in sales, due to the development of the peace process and the lifting of the Arab boycott. These developments brought other Japanese motor vehicle agencies to open in Israel, as well as agencies from other Far eastern countries such as Korea. Subaru lost out to Mitsubishi, Mazda and others.
The agency’s total assets are estimated at $30 million.