At least, a memorandum of understanding has been signed, pricing the mall at NIS 1.53 billion. "I called Yossi [Perry, Melisron CEO] to congratulate him and wish him the best of luck. They bought the best mall in Israel," said Moshe Rosenblum, leader of British Israel's malls division. British Israel had also been in the running for Ramat Aviv, he said, but decided to bow out because it was "too perfect" - the group couldn't "better" it, meaning, make improvements and sell it onward for a profit.
Rosenblum adds that the rental prices that businesses at the mall pay are sky-high, and he doubts that the return on investment can be seriously improved. Possibly returns on the mall could be bettered by opening it on Shabbat, but at this stage, says the mall's management, there's no such plan in the works.
Leviev is far from being the only businessman making moves to ease liquidity, whether in order to pay back bondholders, banks and other creditors or to improve financial ratios. These are hard times, the global economy is contracting hard and jittery banks are clenching their fists. If once, companies - including some decidedly iffy ones - could routinely take out fresh loans to repay old ones, that isn't the case any more.
