Banking source: If the companies need more finance, Shaul Elovitch is welcome to provide it.
Against a background of so far unproductive attempts to formulate a debt settlement in the Eurocom group, controlled by Shaul Elovitch, the banks financing the group are refusing to extend new credit to group companies. Two such companies - Nokia Israel and Panasonic Israel - recently asked Bank Hapoalim, Discount Bank and First International Bank of Israel to raise their credit limits by NIS 30 million, and were refused.
The background to the refusal is the talks between the group and the thee banks on a settlement of a debt totaling some NIS 1 billion (NIS 400 million to Hapoalim, NIS 500 million to Discount, and NIS 28 million to First International). In addition, Eurocom Real Estate has a debt of NIS 260 million to a consortium led by Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. "If the operating companies need more finance, Elovitch is welcome to provide it to them. At a time when there are talks on a settlement there is no question of us awarding new credit," a banking source says.
The Eurocom group has not paid its debts on schedule for three years. The Israel Securities Authority investigation into the affairs of Elovitch and the Bezeq group that began three months ago only worsened the situation, as it caused a sharp fall in the group's shares, thus eroding the value of its collateral. This is what led Eurocom and the banks to begin talks on a dent settlement a few weeks ago.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 4, 2017
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2017
Shaul Elovitch