Who will buy control of Blue Square Real Estate - the sister company of Mega, which collapsed?
According to a report by The Marker website, three offers have been submitted so far in the race to acquire control of Blue Square Real Estate, with the highest offer belonging to the company Azorim, controlled by ultra-Orthodox businessman Hershey Friedman in partnership with the American Dayan family.
As of the end of September 2015, Rabo Real Estate owned 115 income-producing properties, with a total area of 280,000 square meters. The company also owns (50%) the Tel Aviv City Mall Company, which is building a mall on a 32,000 square meter rental area in the wholesale market complex in Tel Aviv. The mall will open in the second quarter of 2016.
The company that controls 'Real Estate Square' is 'Alon Blue Square'. The sale may help it repay a debt of NIS 1.3 billion, including a debt of NIS 382 million to the holders of Series C bonds, and a debt of NIS 520 million to the banks.
Friedman and Azorim submitted a bid to acquire control, at a company value of NIS 1.72 billion. This bid joins the bid by JTLV, managed by Amir Biram, Roni Biram, Gil Deutsch and Zvika Biran, which is at a company value of NIS 1.7 billion, and the bid by Big and Mega Or, managed by Eitan Bar Zeev and Tzachi Nachmias, at a company value of NIS 1.65 billion.
Plastic business and more
Hershey Friedman, the owner of Azorim, is 60 years old and a father of six who lives in Montreal.
He made most of his fortune from his North American plastic, poultry and meat businesses. He is considered a major donor within the ultra-Orthodox community, and his associates describe him as someone who would go out of his way to help anyone in need.
Although he has established a strong business presence in Israel in recent years, he has no intention of settling here, and he often flies.
Besides North America and Israel, Friedman also invests in Eastern Europe. He was previously a partner of the Dankner family in the Hilton Warsaw Hotel, and sold his share in the project for a large profit of tens of millions of euros.
Most of his investments in Israel are in the field of real estate. In the past, he noted that real estate in Israel thrives even when there is a global economic crisis, and he summed up the reason for this in his opinion with the words: "This is the chosen country.".
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