After losing control of the IDB group, Nochi Dankner is now fighting on another front: his private debts to the bank. It is believed that Dankner has begun initial talks on a joint settlement with Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI), Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI), Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT), and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF) on personal debts amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels.
Dankner's debts are via two privately held companies, Ganden and Tomahawk. Ganden, which controlled the IDB group, owes NIS 530 million to Bank Leumi and Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank. The remaining debt, some NIS 200 million owed to Bank Hapoalim, NIS 80 million to Discount Bank, NIS 50 million to Credit Suisse, and a further NIS 30 million to Mizrahi-Tefahot, is in Tomahawk, through which Dankner controls Ganden.
The value of the assets and capital that Dankner has left, among them his house in Herzliya Pituah, is hard to know for certain, but it is estimated at not more than NIS 100 million. In any event, there is not enough to cover most of the debt. Dankner's father, Shmuel Dankner, who has already come to his aid in his time of crisis, could be a source of assistance, but this too would be limited.
It could be that one reason that the banks are acting jointly is the lack of willingness of any one of them to take the lead, and to stand out as the bank that reaches a settlement with Dankner and writes off his debts. The senior managements of the banks have learned the lesson of what happened to Bank Leumi CEO Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, who agreed to write off NIS 150 million of Ganden's debt, and brought down on herself a wave of public anger that forced to her to retract. The banks understand that the public and the media will follow any arrangement over Dankner's private debt closely.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 28, 2014
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