How Barak Abramov Built a Billion-Shekel Empire

About 20 years ago, Barak Abramov became a partner in one branch of Jafnיקה. Last month, the restaurant group he owns received a valuation of 1 billion shekels in an investment by Leumi Partners. Along the way, he bought the chain, doubled it and built an efficient, lean model, with people close to him describing a sharp man who keeps tight control over the numbers and suppliers. In his other role, as owner of Beitar Jerusalem, they describe the opposite, a football fan at heart who often acts emotionally.

The month of May was bittersweet for Barak Abramov. At the start of the month, an investment deal got underway that attached a dream valuation of 1 billion shekels to his private restaurant company, Landora, centered on the Jafnיקה sushi chain. Toward the end of the month, however, Beitar Jerusalem, the football club he owns, lost its chance at the championship after a draw against Hapoel Petah Tikva in a match that handed the title to Hapoel Be'er Sheva. ● "5%-10% in tech may find themselves without work this year" ● "Pakistan praises Hamas leaders. When it mediates with Iran, that should keep us awake at night" ● They moved to live in bunkers to survive the end of the world. The threat came from within

Abramov (46), people say, is driven, a sharp businessman who built an empire with his own two hands. He manages Jafnיקה, which operates both through franchisees and through branches owned by the chain, very closely. "At the beginning he would sit in a cafe on Ibn Gabirol until late at night and go over the numbers of each and every branch. Today, at the end of every business day, he checks how much work there was in each branch, how many Wolt couriers came and went," says a businessman who knows him. In his view, that is his secret, knowing every detail in the company he built.

His story in the restaurant world began in his youth. Abramov, who was born and raised in Givatayim to a father who drove a taxi and came from Bukhara and a mother who was a homemaker, started out washing dishes and making deliveries, and by age 17 was already managing the concessions at the Habima Theater. "I knew him when he was still working at Cafe Habima," says a close acquaintance. "At 17 he was already managing businesses, responsible for all the concessions there. Being in charge of the cash registers, work schedules and suppliers is not something every teenager can do."

Barak Abramov (46) Personal: single, father of 3, lives in Tel Aviv Professional: chairman of the restaurant group Landora and owner of Beitar Jerusalem More: luxury watch enthusiast

He entered Jafnיקה in 2007 as a partner in the Rothschild Boulevard branch of the chain, which at the time had only a few locations in Tel Aviv, according to various reports. Later he became the main franchisee, when he bought it in 2015 from its founder Avi Liani and his partner Shahar Anoshi for an estimated 40 million to 50 million shekels. It had 25 branches then, and since then he has nearly doubled that number.

In the middle of the last decade he also entered Israeli football out of a deep passion for sports, a move that brought him to the forefront of public attention. He started as owner of Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, from 2016 to 2022, and four years ago bought Beitar, despite pleas from family and friends who tried to dissuade him. According to people close to him, "Barak consults, but in the end he decides for himself. Before he bought Beitar, I told him I wouldn't let him do it. I shouted, I begged. I told him everyone who had gotten involved with Beitar fell, Gaidamak, Guma Aguiar, everyone who bought that team was crushed. Gaidamak burned more than 200 million shekels there, according to estimates. Barak went ahead with it, and still succeeded and almost took the championship."

How do you explain that success? "He has sharp instincts, but also a lot of luck. Everything he touches becomes blessed. Teams like Maccabi Tel Aviv or Maccabi Haifa have budgets twice Beitar's. But under Abramov the players connect in an extraordinary way."

Despite our requests, Barak Abramov refused to provide information or cooperate with the article.

The former Jafnיקה branch on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. The first one where Abramov became a partner / Photo: Gal Dern

"The headquarters is not bloated"

Football may have made him famous, but it certainly did not make his fortune. Beitar's budget, 69 million shekels for the 2026/27 season, looks modest compared with its rivals at the top, but pales in comparison with the restaurant group's figures. According to data published when Leumi's investment deal was completed, Landora's revenues are expected to reach about half a billion shekels this year, with EBITDA of about 130 million shekels. The company's annual net profit is estimated at about 100 million shekels.

Until Leumi Partners came in, Abramov was the controlling owner, holding 100% of it. Now the bank's real-asset investment arm, headed by Viktor Vekert, will invest 200 million shekels in exchange for 20% of the company. This is a stamp of approval from the highest league in Israeli business and also a kind of quality seal for Landora's management, which Abramov built some 20 years ago.

Beyond its holding in Jafnיקה, which has about 40 branches nationwide, the company owns the restaurant chains Sosu and Sons, Giro Sushi, Shipudei Tzipora and Pizza Don Pedro, the Yugo yogurt brand, and other activities in the field. "But Shipudei Tzipora or Sosu and Sons were less successful. The success is Jafnיקה," says an acquaintance.

Landora's activities include manufacturing, logistics and distribution of food products, through unimarket, and operating food chains that sell directly to consumers. It relies on a combination of owned branches, franchising, delivery and a customer club. "It's not a big company, with accounting and operations managers, but the headquarters there is not bloated," says a close associate. "You won't find all kinds of titles floating around doing nothing. That's Barak's way of working, he wants to be involved in every detail, and he has no problem cutting someone loose.

"There can be a supplier who has worked with him for 10 or 15 years, but if he can get a better product at a better price, he won't hesitate to replace him. In business there is no loyalty. When it comes to business, he says: I run things the way I understand them. Can you lower the price? If yes, then yes. If not, then no."

In most deals with private investment arms of banks, such as Leumi Partners or Poalim Equity, the agreement includes a framework or milestones for a stock exchange listing. Although no formal step like that has been reported, one can assume that in the future Abramov's restaurant businesses will come to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. This is in light of the appetite among Israeli institutional investors for food businesses, after the successful listings of food producers such as the meat company Baladi or dry goods importer Sugat. But that is still a way off.

It should be noted that earlier this year Leumi Partners also invested with Mor Gemel and Pension in the Nunu Mimi restaurant group, in the amount of 130 million shekels. A capital market source told Globes that for a period Abramov tried to bring in a partner in Landora. According to him, "The Jafnיקה deal was circulating for a few months and there were those who had doubts about it. I think the raised eyebrows were mainly because of Abramov himself and not because of the numbers. Time will tell whether Partners makes a good profit from the deal, but there is no doubt there is potential here, also in terms of expanding the chain in other directions."

The secret of sushi for the masses

These days Israelis' strong appetite for sushi is receiving another concrete example in the capital market, which also sheds light on Abramov's Landora. The Asian restaurant chain Kisu is in the final stretch toward an IPO, which would make it the first restaurant group traded in Tel Aviv. From the draft prospectus published last month, it emerges that the group's revenues, which operates Asian restaurants but is positioned as more refined, stood at just over 300 million shekels last year, and it posted net profit of 25 million shekels. Kisu has eight active restaurants, which means a little less than 40 million shekels per branch.

When the Landora and Leumi Partners deal was signed, estimates were published from which it could be inferred that at Jafnיקה, which has more than 40 branches, the average revenue is 10 million to 12 million shekels per branch, since the group also operates additional chains but Jafnיקה is the main business and source of revenue. However, the profitability per branch appears to be higher, about 16% to 18%, than in Kisu, 8%.

"It's a very, very hard field, but Jafnיקה is still opening more branches in the north and basically all over the country," says a close associate. "Achieving success like Barak's is on the verge of an impossible mission, especially for someone like him who came from nothing."

A businessman who knows him describes the beginning. "He told me back then, 20 years ago, about 'sushi for the masses.' At that time, if you wanted to eat sushi in Israel, you went to upscale restaurants like Yakiniku and Kyoto. Abramov bought out the partners in Jafnיקה for a valuation of only tens of millions of shekels. In my opinion, he cracked the formula."

That person remembers the demand for the Haifa branch in those days. "I called the place to reserve a table and there was no availability for a month and a half. I was shocked. In Tel Aviv the Jafnיקות were less successful then. In Haifa I saw something different, a beautiful restaurant at prices people could afford."

He adds that Barak remained a partner in each of Jafnיקה's branches and, according to him, oversees the business very closely. "That's why other sushi chains expanded less nationwide, only Jafnיקה succeeded on that scale."

In another capital markets move, in May last year, Abramov invested with businessman Jackie Ben Zaken in Turbo-Gen, a manufacturer of micro-turbines for local electricity generation. The two invested 7.2 million shekels, together in equal parts, Abramov through Landora, in the allocation of 480,000 Turbo-Gen shares, about 2% of the company, at a price of 15 shekels per share. After a year, the stock remained flat, so Abramov is not in the red for now.

The legal troubles that did not stop him

Abramov is also a veteran of legal battles, but many of the proceedings he conducts end in settlements or victories. In 2019, a lawsuit was filed against him and his companies alleging breach of franchise agreements in the King George restaurant chain. It was claimed that in 2016 and 2017 the chain was neglected until it nearly collapsed, and the suit alleged that the defendants preferred to promote other brands such as Jafnיקה and Sosu and Sons. The lawsuit was filed for 4 million shekels for fee purposes, and it claimed that Abramov exploited franchisees through misrepresentations. The plaintiffs' claims were rejected, and in June 2022 the court ruled that the chain had declined and that the franchise agreement had not been breached.

Abramov had one especially high-profile entanglement. In 2018, when he was still owner of Bnei Yehuda, he was arrested on suspicion of tax offenses and money laundering. According to the suspicion, Abramov laundered money for others through the concessions he operated in stadiums. During a search of his home, police seized, among other things, about half a million shekels in cash, his Mercedes, three luxury watches, one of them worth a quarter of a million shekels, and a diamond earring that was removed from his ear. However, in the end, after a hearing, it was decided not to indict him and the case was closed.

After the arrest, Ynet reported in July 2018 that Abramov explained to investigators where the money came from and said: "I have money. Whenever I need it, I take one of my checks and cash it with a guy who has a change booth. I cash my own check for a million shekels, pay 100,000 shekels in interest and live with cash. What's the problem with that?"

Later, in a podcast with attorney and media personality Shai Hozman, he spoke about the accusations leveled against him in that affair, which allegedly involved ties to criminal figures. "I come from the restaurant industry," Abramov said, hinting: "You socialize with this person or that person. In the restaurant industry you have bottle returns, meat and oil recycling. I run more than 150 points across my businesses. It's clear to you that everyone wants a piece of the pie. If people want to sit with me, I know how to sit with everyone, but I also know how not to work with them."

In that same conversation he revealed the enormous difficulty he experienced in detention. "I sat in detention for 12 days, that's the hardest thing for any person, no matter who he is. You can't sleep. It's much worse than bedbugs, the worst hell there is. Take death, which is the worst thing in life, then this is the worst. You don't know what's happening to you, what's happening outside, what will happen tomorrow. In my case they also barely questioned me. You have to be a strong person, believe in yourself and not break."

He later described his DNA, which enabled him to maintain his determination and fight for his innocence. "I started out at the concessions at the Habima Theater. I told myself, one day I will return to the field when I am big enough. Then a tender came up for Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. I said, let's go submit a bid. I won the tender. They, the police, tried to present it as if I won the tender for someone else. But I told them, the truth will eventually come out. There is one truth and you can't lie."

Abramov's luxury watches, by the way, returned to the headlines about three years ago when they were a central target in a violent attempted robbery at his home in a luxury tower in Tel Aviv's Park Tzameret. That same month, in January 2023, Yigal Mosko asked him in an N12 Friday studio segment, "Why are there often criminals around you?" Abramov replied: "I think the question you're asking is... not nice and not respectful." Mosko insisted and said: "According to your testimony in court, you gave one, Yossi Edri, 250,000 shekels in cash inside a car in a parking lot and said, I will take a signature from him. He served 15 years in prison." Abramov replied: "That person served prison time, he is not a criminal. He was in prison for something completely different. Not everyone who goes to prison is a criminal."

That affair, in which he was arrested and ended with nothing, took place about two years after Abramov entered football, when he bought Bnei Yehuda from Moshe Damyo. According to people close to him, if he had not been in that world nobody would have been interested in him and the affair would never have arisen. Incidentally, the summer Abramov was arrested, Jafnיקה bought sponsorship rights to the Premier League for 4 million shekels, and the 2018/19 season was called the "Jafnיקה League."

"Don't delay a player's salary"

Six years after buying Bnei Yehuda, when Beitar Jerusalem ran into difficulties with owner Moshe Hogeg, Abramov decided to make the move and take over the club. With him throughout the entire journey was former player Kfir Edri, who previously served as CEO of Bnei Yehuda and is now CEO of Beitar Jerusalem. "He entered Bnei Yehuda because he loves football, it was in his blood," Edri says. "But with Beitar it's a completely different story, he entered as a fan. To enter where he entered, in the condition he entered, was crazy, without any business logic. I remember we left the meeting and saw Beitar's situation, and all of us were in full agreement that he must not do it. There was chaos here, debts, a mess with suppliers, lawsuits. To this day Barak is still paying debts from then."

But Abramov, as noted, decided to go for it, mainly because of his love for the club, which had been there since he was very young. In eighth grade, for example, when he studied at Brener School in Givatayim, his classmates wrote about him in the class yearbook: "He loves Beitar Jerusalem very much, always shows up for every activity, he invests in his studies and gets good results."

"I and all his childhood friends called him and screamed at him on the phone not to touch Beitar," says a senior figure in Israeli sports who had worked with Abramov in the past. "Everyone who got involved with Beitar ended badly. The problem is that he is a die-hard Beitar fan."

"It's not just buying the club," Edri continues. "In the first and second years there were many situations where he could have sold a player and slightly reduced the losses, but he didn't want to. His conduct at Beitar is very emotional."

That conduct, it seems, paid off this year, when the team was in the championship race until the very last moment. "In my wildest dreams I did not believe that after four years the club would look like this," says the senior sports figure. This year Abramov spent about 30 million shekels on player salaries, and next year the number is expected to rise even further.

This week, however, a real drama unfolded at Beitar Jerusalem, when the club announced that coach Barak Itzhaki would not continue with the team next season. The announcement surprised the industry, especially given Beitar's success last season. Replacing Itzhaki will be Almog Cohen, who until now served as the team's sporting director. Although Cohen knows the club inside out and had a significant role in building it, this is undoubtedly a puzzling move and a risk Abramov is taking, giving the reins to an inexperienced coach.

What is he like as an owner? How much does he intervene in the coach's decision-making, for example?

Edri: "He never interferes. Of course he says his opinion, but he does not decide. Beyond that, he has a big heart. From day one at Bnei Yehuda he always first helped whoever needed it, even kids in the Shkhunat HaTikva neighborhood. The first thing he told me was not to delay a player's salary. One of his strongest traits is his word, with Barak you don't need agreements."

A senior figure in the industry says that "he has broad understanding of the football world, and he knows how to choose the right people around him. He has trusted people who have been with him for years and he gives them the reins. He also knows how to get out of people what is needed, when he gets angry, people know it.

"He respects the history of sports. From a young age we saw a person who wants to succeed, a prodigy. But he is also very sensitive, if you call him and say there is a child who needs help, you will get a listening ear."

As a businessman, does he sometimes go head to head with players and coaches? Have people been hurt along the way?

"I'm sure there are people and also players who have been hurt quite a bit."

"They raise eyebrows because he is Mizrahi"

And after all that, if you ask the average football fan what he thinks of Abramov, there will probably also be mention of his appearance, with the cap turned on his head and the shirt a bit too open. Even in the satirical sports program "Bouba Shel Laila," his colorful character got a place of honor, with an appearance that somewhat lampoons him.

Edri, who meets Abramov every day, says he refuses to be bothered by it. "Barak takes everything well, and he takes it completely as a joke. The love he gets today in the street is something that can't be explained."

A figure in the restaurant industry admits and tells Globes that Abramov's appearance is misleading, as he often arrives for interviews dressed in bright white clothes, with diamond earrings and a fast, uncompromising rhythm of speech. "He grew up from the very bottom and reached where he did with sharp business instincts like a street cat. It's true he has a supposedly intimidating appearance and his external style can be provocative, and it's not for everyone, it's also less my style. But that's part of his charm and probably what makes him succeed like this. He's unconventional. You can look at it that way too."

The businessman we spoke with adds that he makes a point of not becoming a partner of Abramov. "I want to be his friend without any interests. I have many friends in the business world who are surrounded by interests, and at some point you need to filter them out. Barak also filtered out quite a few opportunists like that. When you succeed in business, there are a lot of energy drains. You need to learn to focus on the children, the family and the work."

"He is an excellent businessman who built an amazing business from scratch," says another person who has known Abramov for many years. "If he were called Barakovic, people would say he is a genius. Because he is Mizrahi, people raise eyebrows about him. There is an element of racism in that. If he had fastened one more button, they would say he was normal."

By the way, that same figure adds, "There is a famous photo of him from the sea with a white sandal. That caused him a lot of damage and I think he understands that today. I once told him, 'You were wrong when you bought Beitar Jerusalem. If you had bought Hapoel Tel Aviv they would have whitened you.' I really believe that."

Assisted in preparing the article: Jennifer Sillon