The Israel firm acquired structured securities of the US investment bank but still expects them to be repaid.
"Globes" has been informed that Menorah Mivtachim Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MORA) has an exposure of about NIS 20-25 million to Lehman Bros. The structured securities were apparently linked to the Tel Aviv 25 Index.
Menorah Mivtachim tried to redeem the securities in the days before the collapse of the investment bank due to the mounting fears concerning its circumstances. However, because the redemption order was only received a short while before investment bank requested Chapter 11 protection from the US courts, the money for the instrument has not yet been received.
Sources at Menorah Mivtachim believe that there will be a full recovery (in other words the debt is repayable) for the security issued by Lehman Bros. and there will be no requirement to write off the investment. Migdal Capital Market are also currently making every effort to retrieve the capital as part of their involvement as the brokers of the deal.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 28, 2008
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