Israeli firm Bagir claims that the petition filed by its Turkish partners for an injunction against the sale of Guney Polgat is intended to extort money. Bagir, controlled by Zvi Barinboim, yesterday filed its response to the petition in the Tel Aviv District Court.
Bagir said that the three Turkish partners had exercised their first refusal rights, and had acquired its stake in Guney Polgat, the controlling shareholder in Polgat Textiles, which operates a factory in Kiryat Gat with hundreds of employees.
Bagir alleges that the entire proceeding is superfluous, particularly an injunction against the deal between Bagir and Emson Enterprises for the sale of Guney Polgat, given that the petitioners announced that they would exercise their first refusal rights. Bagir says, however, that the petitioners are refusing to withdraw their petition, in order to extort money from Bagir.
According to Bagir, the petitioners have no real interest in the legal proceedings themselves. Bagir alleges that the petition is a means of opposing the request to distribute a dividend to the shareholders. Bagir says that the petition is part of another court case, and creates an obstacle to the planned IPO for Bagir, which is exactly what the petitioners want.
Bagir asserts that the existence of the petition is causing it huge damages, since it is on the verge of an IPO, as well as to Polgat (TASE: PLGT1; PLGT4), its parent company, which is in the process of seeking approval to distribute a dividend.
Bagir adds that the petitioners, which are controlled by the Basers, a Turkish family, had made Bagir an “offer you can’t refuse,” saying that unless Bagir paid millions of shekels to the formerly wealthy Baser family, which is now in bankruptcy proceedings, the family would harm the business of Bagir and its shareholders, and make their lives miserable.
When Bagir refused to immediately surrender to the pressure, the petitioners began stirring up trouble. Bagir alleges that they are trying to use the current legal proceedings to disrupt Polgat’s petition for court approval of its NIS 150 million dividend.
Bagir says that it injected millions of shekels into Guney Polgat, a joint company, above and beyond its obligations, and also lent a further $5 million directly to the Baser family as a goodwill gesture, in view of the families financial difficulties.
Bagir added that after the petitioners had exercised their first refusal rights to buy its holdings in Guney Polgat, it had proposed that the petition be withdrawn, but the petitioners refused, and insisted on continuing the proceedings. Bagir alleges that the proceedings are useless, and designed solely to achieve irrelevant and illegitimate objectives.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 17, 2005