בדניה סיבוס צופים גידול בהיקף הבנייה למגורים: מקימים חברה בת "גיאו דניה"

With Shlomi Sheffer

Tel Aviv District Court yesterday denied Israel Discount Bank's request to recognize its first right of refusal in the sale of FIBI Holdings. The court rejected each of Discount Bank's claims and ruled the bank must pay legal fees of NIS 315,000.

The judgment enables the completion of the sale of 52% of FIBI to Zadik Bino and the Liberman family, which will also give the purchasers control of the First International Bank of Israel. The price of the deal is $90 million, which reflects half of its equity of NIS 3.3 billion.

Discount Bank said it would study the judge's decision and consider its options. The bank noted that it has the right to appeal the decision, but it has not yet decided what course of action to take.

Discount, which holds 26% of the shares of First International, claimed in court that the sale of the controlling interest in FIBI Holdings was, for all practical purposes, the same as the sale of control of First International Bank, and therefore the sellers were required to offer Discount first right of refusal.

Discount Bank's main argument was that FIBI had no other substantial holdings other than First International.

Discount came to court armed with an expert valuation by Prof. Nahum Bigger, who determined that the rest of FIBI's holdings are just 7% of its value.

The court ruled that the 1983 contract specifically refers to First International Bank and not to FIBI. The verdict also states that the value of FIBI's other holdings is completely immaterial to the deal.

Discount bank continues to negotiate with the Bank of Israel regarding its need to write down the value of its holdings in Fist International. Discount records the value of the stake at NIS 860 million, its relative portion of the bank's equity.

Discount denies the value for First International reflected by the Bino deal reflects the real value of the bank. Discount has proposed a symbolic NIS 50-million charge.

The central bank believes accounting procedures require a much more substantial write down, possibly the entire difference between the value of First International Bank as reflected in Discount's books and the value of the bank as reflected in the deal.