Weeks after businessman Haim Sceaal submitted a surprise $4.5 billion bid to buy Israeli shipping company Zim, it emerged that one of his homes in Herzliya Pituach was placed under receivership over an unpaid debt of about 15 million shekels. The bid, sent in early May to Zim chairman Yair Seroussi, was never discussed by the board because the company had already signed a deal to be sold to Germany's Hapag-Lloyd and the Fimi fund for $4.2 billion.
Sceaal did not disclose the source of financing for his offer. Previous reports said additional investors were supposed to join him, and he was quoted at the time saying, “Israel is the candle by my feet and it must be protected.” A day earlier, reports said he also intended to buy Arkia, but no financing details were provided there either.
The legal pressure on his assets intensified when the Haifa District Court appointed a receiver about two weeks ago for a house on Wingate Street in Herzliya Pituach, after a debt to Extra Credit, controlled by Moti Ben-Moshe. If the debt is not settled, the case is expected to move toward enforcement proceedings. Sceaal and his wife Michal own two adjacent seafront houses there, each about 400 square meters and each valued at roughly 18 million shekels. One serves as the family home and the other houses his elderly parents. One property carries a 12.6 million shekel mortgage to C and Shells Marketing, while the other reportedly has an about 11 million shekel loan from non-bank lender S.R. Accord, controlled by Adi Tzsim.
According to sources familiar with the talks, Sceaal is negotiating quietly with Extra Credit and is offering to repay about 13 million shekels in exchange for waiving part of the interest, including late-payment interest. He reportedly wants to fund the payment with a loan from another credit company, while also claiming he expects a substantial commission from a mining deal in Africa. Extra Credit is open to compromise, but gaps remain. Sceaal's response said, “The report contains inaccuracies. The family has always stood behind the companies and all of their commitments.”
The article also recalled that Sceaal is the son of Suli Sceaal, who founded the Sceaal Group, once active in fashion, sports, electronics, and duty-free retail. The group collapsed in 2005 but later repaid hundreds of millions of shekels to banks. In 2018, the family sold its duty-free business, concentrated in Lim, to Teddy Sagi for 8 million shekels in cash and 30 million shekels in bank debt, and last November Sceaal sued Sagi over what he said was a remaining 2 million shekels tied to a debt he guaranteed; Sagi denied the claim.
