TalB

Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel
Elad Canada to buy Canadian public co for $200m

The target company has $500 million worth of properties.

Eran Peer 30 Jun 08 10:59

Elad Group Canada Inc. will buy a Canadian public company with $500 million in properties for $200 million, Elad Canada CEO Uzi Levy told "Globes". Elad Canada is part of Yitzhak Tshuva's private real estate company Elad Properties

Levy added that he saw no problem that some of Elad's activity would be managed by a public and transparent company. He explained, however, that Elad Canada had no plans to initially participate in the business of the acquired company. This may change later.

Levy believes that Elad Canada's gross assets total $2.8 billion. The usual leverage in Canada is 60%. The company plans to build 5,000 more homes during 2009. Elad Canada is one of the country's three largest real estate groups. It business focus is Montreal, Toronto, and Calgary.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel - on June 30, 2008

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008

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TalB

Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel
Versace to design Leviev's New York condos

Donatella Versace will design interiors for Africa-Israel's Clock Tower building in Manhattan.

Michal Margalit 23 Jul 08 15:22

Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY), controlled by chairman Lev Leviev, has hired Gianni Versace SpA to design luxury condominiums in the company's Clock Tower building in Manhattan.

Africa-Israel bought the Clock Tower building for $200 million over a year ago, and is converting the office building into condominiums at a cost of $110 million. The 26,000-square meter building will have 55 apartments and penthouses.

Africa-Israel Properties Development USA CEO Rotem Rosen said, "The agreement with Versace fits in with the company's business strategy to brand its Manhattan properties, including the Clock Tower, with a leading international brand."

Donatella Versace will be personally responsible for the interior design of the exclusive club in the Clock Tower's first two floors. The club's restaurant will be the first in the world personally designed by Versace.

The Clock Tower was built in 1909 as the headquarters for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The 213.5-meter tall skyscraper facing Madison Square Park was added to the original 1893 building to make it the tallest in the world at the time. The Clock Tower was modeled after the clock tower of St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, and its four bronze bells, sounds off Handel every fifteen minutes during the day and the evening. The interior decor comprises 14 murals by painter Newell Covers Wyeth. The Clock Tower was declared a Landmark building in 1999

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel - on July 23, 2008

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008

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Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel
Komo Investments develops Philadelphia student housing

The company and a local partner will build two and three-family homes.

Ariel Rosenberg 22 Jul 08 12:38

Komo Investments Ltd., which specializes in overseas real estate investment, will build two and three-family homes for students in Philadelphia together with Renaissance Homes and Development Corporation. Komo will initially invest $20 million in the project, and will subsequently invest an additional $50 million in the development of more local neighborhoods.

The student housing project will offer 100 two-family and 10 three-family homes, which will have all basic student amenities, including a refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, microwave oven, washing machine, and dryer.

Komo told "Globes" that the project was intended for investors, who buy the properties and lease them to students. Prices will begin at $399,000, with the investor paying for 30% the property and obtaining financing from a US bank for the rest. The expected annual yield is 12%.

Construction will be at two sites, one near Temple University and the other to north of the campus.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel - on July 22, 2008

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008

__________________
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TalB

Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel
Dankner raises stakes in Las Vegas residential projects

IDB Group USA increased its stakes in Queensridge Towers and Sahara Hualapai.

Globes' correspondent 27 Jul 08 14:47

IDB Group USA Investments Inc. has increased its stakes in two residential developments in Las Vegas for $13.5 million altogether. The company has acquired 18% of Queensridge Towers LLC and 14% of Sahara Hualapai LLC. It has also deposited a $3 million owners loan with trustee for Great Wash Park LLC.

IDB Group USA has also extended a construction loan to Queensridge Towers to May 2009. The outstanding amount of the $380 million loan totals $101 million.

IDB Group USA Investments is owned in equal shares by Nochi Dankner companies IDB Development Corp. Ltd. (TASE: IDBD) and its subsidiary, Property and Building Ltd. (TASE: PTBL). The company is involved in a number of projects in Las Vegas, including the $5.7 billion Plaza hotel-casino and business center project on the Strip with Yitzhak Tshuva's Elad Properties LLC.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel - on July 27, 2008

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008

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TalB

Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel
Midroog: Dankner and Tshuva's Las Vegas casino is high risk

Yitzhak Tshuva's Elad Properties and Nochi Dankner's Discount Investment and Property and Building want to build the $5-7 billion Plaza complex on the Strip.

Avi Shauly 30 Jul 08 10:49

Midroog Ltd. says that the Plaza hotel and casino project in Las Vegas planned by Nochi Dankner and Yitzhak Tshuva creates high business risk for IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH).

Dankner and Tshuva own the project in equal shares: Dankner through IDB unit IDB Group USA Investments Inc. held equally by Discount Investment Corporation (TASE: DISI) and its subsidiary Property and Building Ltd. (TASE: PTBL), and Tshuva through Elad Properties LLC unit Elad Las Vegas LLC.

Midroog attributes the project's risk to its size, exposure to the real estate market in Las Vegas, which is falling, and exposure to liquidity risk related to financial institutions' willingness to extend credit in view of the credit crisis in the US.

Midroog also noted the increase in IDB Group's leverage after it raised debt, distributed dividends, and the fall in company value of its subsidiaries. Midroog adds that IDB's debt is causing heavy losses to the company because of the linkage to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and shekel-dollar exchange rate differentials.

IDB Group USA and Elad Las Vegas bought the old New Frontier Casino on the Las Vegas Strip for $1.24 billion, demolished it, and plan to invest an additional $5-7 billion in building the Plaza hotel, casino, convention center, residential, and shopping complex. Construction is expected to take 4-5 years after building permits are obtained. The companies have yet signed a financing agreement for the project either.

As for IDB's investment in Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS; SWX: CSGN; XETRA: CSGZ) through Discount Investment subsidiary Koor Industries Ltd. (TASE:KOR), Midroog calls this "a speculative investment."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - Globes [online] – business and technology news from Israel - on July 30, 2008

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008

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