After Debt Restructurings and Haircuts, Gadi Dankner Returns to the Market With an Urban Renewal Company
The wave of offerings currently hitting the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is bringing with it several figures and companies returning to the market after a long absence. Among them are Shmuel Topaz, formerly CEO and controlling shareholder of ham-Let, who is returning as owner of Metallicon; Uri Yehudai, former CEO of Frutarom and now chairman of the new listings Gla'am and Rafa; and Rafi Biscer, a former senior executive at the IDB conglomerate, who now serves as chairman of the real estate company B.St. ● Shmulik Yanai: "When you see your older brother become a billionaire, it whets your appetite" ● After a criminal conviction and debt troubles: the real estate entrepreneur trying to raise bonds
The return of familiar names is not bypassing the bond market either, where a double-digit number of companies, mainly from the cash-hungry real estate sector, have filed prospectuses for offerings. One of the new-old entrants is businessman Gadi Dankner, a cousin of Nochi Dankner, the former owner of IDB, who is working to return to the local stock exchange with the urban renewal company Dankner Kanlov, which he founded. The company is seeking to raise about 45 million shekels from Tel Aviv investors through a bond offering that will carry interest of up to 7.5%.
Gadi Dankner and the company he manages, as well as investors in Tel Aviv, will hope his return to the local exchange ends more successfully than his previous episode, which began with exotic investments and ended in debt restructurings and liquidations, some of which are still ongoing today.
In the early 2000s, some members of the Dankner family, Shmuel and his son Dori, together with the brothers Dani, Gadi and Alon Dankner, Shmuel's nephews, acquired control of Alran Investments from the insurance company Migdal. The company, managed by Gadi Dankner, made a range of ambitious investments, for example in resorts in Thailand and Spain, satellite broadcasting networks in Romania, an amusement park in Eilat, City of Kings, and more. But within a short time it became clear that almost all of the investments made by the Dankners had failed, and Alran fell into a severe crisis. As a result, it was unable to meet its debt repayments and reached a debt restructuring in 2010, amounting to about 150 million shekels, in which bondholders took a 50% haircut. In 2012, the company’s shares were delisted, but holders of Series C bonds still have not received all of their money from the company, which has now been in liquidation and receivership for more than a decade.
The fate of investors in the company's subsidiary Alran Real Estate, which was listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in 2006, was no less bitter. It too fell into crisis at the beginning of the previous decade, following failed investments it made in real estate around the world, which led it to an agreement with its creditors, under which about a quarter of the debt was shaved, after it stood at the time at about 100 million shekels.
With backing from market veterans, Dankner established his urban renewal company in 2013 under the name Gadi Dankner TAMA 38. In 2024, entrepreneur Olivia König bought 60% of the company for 21 million shekels, a move after which the company changed its name to "Dankner Kanlov Urban Renewal." Two years later, the two registered a small exit, when the public real estate company Intergama, controlled by businessman Tanchum Oren, bought control of it, 51%, for an investment of 45 million shekels, through share purchases and a loan. Alongside Intergama, König holds about 21.5% of the company, while Dankner, who serves as the company's CEO, holds about 10.5% of the shares together with his wife Liat. Another shareholder is Johan Kadosh, chairman of the Psagot and Sigma Clarity investment houses, who invested about 10 million shekels in the company earlier this year, at a valuation of 42 million shekels, and holds about 12% of it.
In return for his services as CEO, Dankner is entitled to annual management fees of about 780,000 shekels. About two months ago, Dankner signed a new agreement under which he will be entitled to annual compensation of about 1.1 million shekels. His wife Liat, who provides architectural services to the company, is entitled to payment of 1.9 million shekels for her services.
Dankner Kanlov has 6 projects under construction and planning, 2 projects under construction in Holon, including about 52 housing units, of which 4 have not yet been sold. These are expected to generate revenues of about 51 million shekels, which will be recognized over the next two and a half years, along with gross profit of 11.6 million shekels. The company also holds 4 projects in planning stages in Herzliya, Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan, totaling 34 housing units. Accordingly, part of the offering proceeds, 22 million shekels, is expected to be used to complete the equity required for the projects in planning. In addition, the company intends to use 10 million shekels to repay loans carrying an average annual interest rate of about 10%.
Dankner Kanlov ended 2025 with revenues of about 20.3 million shekels, and the bottom line showed a net loss of 5 million shekels. Like almost all real estate companies raising bonds in Tel Aviv, Dankner Kanlov is coming to the exchange with negative working capital of about 16.7 million shekels, along with negative operating cash flow of about 5 million shekels over the past year.
