Weeks after businessman Haim Saccal stunned Zim with a $4.5 billion takeover proposal, it emerged that one of his homes in Herzliya Pituach has been placed under receivership over a debt of about NIS 15 million. The offer, sent in early May to Zim chairman Yair Seroussi, was higher than Hapag-Lloyd’s bid, but Zim’s board never discussed it because the company had already signed a deal to sell itself to German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd and the FIMI fund for $4.2 billion.
Saccal, whose family once ran duty free stores at Ben Gurion Airport through the Saccal Group, did not disclose how he would finance the Zim bid. Earlier reports said other investors were expected to join him. He was quoted then as saying, “The State of Israel is dear to me and must be protected.” A day earlier, reports said he also intended to buy Arkia, again without details on funding.
Now it appears his finances are under pressure. About two weeks ago, Haifa District Court appointed a receiver for a house on Wingate Street in Herzliya Pituach after a debt to Extra Credit, controlled by Motti Ben-Moshe. If the debt is not settled, the case is expected to move toward enforcement proceedings. Saccal and his wife Michal own two adjoining seafront homes on the street, each about 400 square meters and each valued at roughly NIS 18 million. One is their residence and the other houses his elderly parents. One property carries a NIS 12.6 million mortgage registered to C and Shels Marketing, and the other appears to carry an additional mortgage, reportedly tied to an about NIS 11 million loan from S.R. Accord, controlled by Adi Tzims.
According to people familiar with the talks, Extra Credit turned to court after Saccal missed repayment deadlines. Attorney Eyal Shani was appointed receiver, and on June 7 an attachment order was also issued against the home. Saccal is reportedly negotiating quietly with Extra Credit, offering to repay about NIS 13 million in exchange for waiving some interest and late-payment charges, using money he says may come from a lender prepared to finance him. He also claims he expects a significant commission from a mining deal in Africa. In response, Saccal said the report contains inaccuracies and that his family has always stood behind its companies and obligations.
The Saccal family, led by Suli Saccal and his brother, built a retail empire in fashion, sports and electronics, and later collapsed in 2005. Over the years it repaid bank debts worth hundreds of millions of shekels. In 2018, the family sold Saccal Duty Free, housed in Lim, to Teddy Sagi for NIS 8 million in cash and another NIS 30 million in bank debt. Saccal later sued Sagi last November, claiming a remaining NIS 2 million balance tied to Lim, which Sagi denied.
