Shikun & Binui appoints Amit Birman acting CEO

Naty Saidoff  credit: Eyal Izhar
Naty Saidoff credit: Eyal Izhar

The appointment follows the resignation of Tamir Cohen amid a power struggle with controlling shareholder Naty Saidoff.

Infrastructure and real estate development company Shikun & Binui (TASE: SKBN) has just announced that Amit Birman has been appointed acting CEO of the group. Until the appointment, Birman was deputy CEO and CFO at the company.

Last week, it was announced that Shikun & Binui CEO Tamir Cohen had resigned amid a power struggle with controlling shareholder Netanel (Naty) Saidoff. Cohen plans to put together an investor group that will attempt to wrest control of Shikun & Binui from Saidoff.

The resignation came after, a week previously, Saidoff appointed himself a director at the company, which was viewed as a first step towards becoming chairperson, in order to be in a position to intervene in the day to day running of the company and acquire greater influence.

In his letter of resignation, Cohen wrote that he had decided to leave, "After six years of activity, in which we immeasurably improved the company's financial situation, promoted many projects, and acquired significant activities for the company."

He added, "Recently special circumstances have arisen in which I have the impression that I have the ability, together with other investors, to purchase some or all of the controlling shares in the company, which I believe can grow significantly. At the same time, the fact that the controlling shareholder has decided to be more involved in the management of the company led me to the conclusion that it would be right and appropriate at this stage for me to move forward on this, while I am out of the company."

Shikun & Binui's share price has fallen 65% from its peak price in May 2021. The company has taken on debt for diverse projects, including the purchase of a huge plot in Tel Aviv's Sde Dov site for the construction of long-term rental housing.

In June 2018, Saidoff bought 47% of Shikun & Binui from Shari Arison for NIS 1.1 billion, which reflected a 15% discount on the market price at the time.

It was bargain price, with the stock trading at a low on which Arison gave a discount because of her desire to exit the company that had become embroiled in allegations of bribery of public officials in Africa and misreporting of the sums involved. The company reached a settlement with the authorities over the affair only last week.

Saidoff believed that the company had hidden value, and it quickly became apparent that he had made the deal of his life. Even he did not expect the fantastic return on his investment in Shikun & Binui in the first few years after he bought his stake, which rose in value to over NIS 4 billion. Saidoff did not however sell his shares, and now he must surely be regretting that. The theoretical value of his stake (which has been diluted to 41%) has now shrunk to just NIS 300 million.

Saidoff has sharply criticized the decision to participate in the Sde Dov tender. The performance of the stock, which has kept falling because of the huge leverage that has strangled the company in the past two years because of the rise in interest rates, is one of the factors that led Saidoff to push for change and to edge Cohen out of the company.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 7, 2024.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.

Naty Saidoff  credit: Eyal Izhar
Naty Saidoff credit: Eyal Izhar
Unframe founders credit: Yossi Yarom Israeli AI enterprise platform co Unframe raises $50m

Unframe’s turnkey AI solutions enable companies to solve any enterprise AI use case at scale with fully functional, customized AI solutions for businesses in a matter of hours, rather than months.

Combatica credit: Combatica Combatica launches next-gen VR AI training platform

The Israeli company's virtual reality platform includes 50 AI generated scenarios, seven maps and even situations for operating night vision.

Shekel credit: Shutterstock Vladirina 32 Shekel volatility after US tariffs announcement

The shekel is weakening sharply against the euro, which is gaining following the unveiling of Donald Trump's tariffs plan.

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich credit: Noam Moskovitz Knesset Spokesperson Treasury assesses potential damage to Israel's US exports

Israel will be charged a higher tariff on its exports to the US - its biggest export customer - than Turkey and the UAE.

Iranian flag credit: Shutterstock Why inflation haunts Iran

With a month-on-month increase of 3.3% and an annual rate of 37.1%, inflation reflects the struggles of millions of Iranians.

APM merges with lawyers from Doron, Tikotzky Kantor, Gutman credit: Eyal Merilos APM merges with 12 lawyers from Doron, Tikotzky Kantor, Gutman

With the addition of these 12 lawyers, Amit Pollak Matalon & Co. will now have 135 lawyers.

US President Donald Trump credit: Reuters Sipa USA Israel on list as Trump unveils tariffs

Relatively low reciprocal tariffs will be imposed on Israeli goods sold in the US.

Deflated unicorn credit: Shutterstock Big Tech 50 reports more huge falls in startup valuations

Israeli R&D partnership Big Tech 50 reports that an investment of $2 million in Orcam made in 2021, shrank to just $31,000 at the end of 2024.

NextFerm technologies based on yeast credit: NextFerm Food-tech co NextFerm suspends operations

The company, which produces food ingredients in yeast without genetic engineering, cannot pay its debts and is seeking a buyer.

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich credit: Shlomi Yosef OECD sees recovery in growth but high inflation

The OECD Israel Economic Survey 2025 recommends that the Israeli government take several restraining measures, in order to exit the economic storm created by the war.

Dano Ben-Hur credit: Dror Sithakol Statisticians contradict BoI on impact of housing finance deals

The Central Bureau of Statistics insists the impact of 20/80 buy now pay later financing deals on the real estate market and housing prices is minimal.

Governor of the Bank of Israel Amir Yaron  credit: Government Press Office Debt fears top Bank of Israel's concerns

Most unusually, Governor of the Bank of Israel Amir Yaron's press conference last week did not focus on inflation and the impending interest rate decision.

US President Donald Trump  credit: Reuters/Leah Millis Israel moves to avoid Trump's tariffs axe

Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich has signed an order canceling all tariffs on imports from the US. The impact will mostly be on agricultural produce.

Forbes Rich List credit: Shutterstock Maslowski Marcin Wiz founders ranked in Forbes 2025 Rich List

There are a few dozen Israelis listed in the 2025 Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List including Wiz founders Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Roy Reznik and Ami Luttwak.

SatixFy CEO Nir Barkan credit: Ariel Barkan Canada's MDA Space to buy Israeli satcom co SatixFy

MDA Space will pay $269 million for the Israeli company, including taking on a $76 million debt and a 75% premium on SatixFy's closing price on Nasdaq yesterday.

Raising dollars credit: Shutterstock Israeli startups raised over $1b in March

Israeli privately-held tech companies have raised $2.1 billion in the first three months of 2025, according to IVC-LeumiTech, up 24% from the corresponding quarter of 2024.

Twitter Facebook Linkedin RSS Newsletters גלובס Israel Business Conference 2018