Habas HZ Investments Ltd. (TASE: HABS), controlled by Hertzel Habas, once a pioneer in the takeover of foreign assets by acquiring debts, is now one step closer to liquidation. The Habas bond trustee has petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court to liquidate the real estate company and appoint liquidators for it, with Hertzel Habas's consent.
The petition was made after the UK's Duet Asset Management Ltd. withdrew from the debt settlement reached with Habas's bondholders, leaving them empty-handed. The liquidator and receiver who will be appointed for Habas will likely seek a new investor for the company, which crashed following a failed, highly-leveraged, investment in Dutch REIT Nieuwe Steen Investments NV (NSI) (AEX:NISTI).
Over several years, Habas made several transactions, buying the debt of properties. For example, in 2011, it made a NIS 78 million gain on the purchase of discounted debt on an office complex in the Swiss capital, Bern: it bought the debt for NIS 45 million, and sold it a few months later for NIS 123 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 3, 2013
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