Elron Conflict Escalates as Two Shareholders Oust Third from Chairmanship

The dispute among the controlling shareholders of Elron has reached a boiling point, with the company announcing the removal of Lisia Bachar Menuch from her position as Chairwoman of the Board of Directors. Bachar Menuch has already sent a legal warning letter to the company, contesting her dismissal and indicating the conflict may head to court. The ousting was led by co-controlling shareholders Arik Bentov and Evan Renob, who each hold one-third of the company's controlling shares, alongside Bachar Menuch. They proposed replacing her, who has served as chair since Arieli, owned by the three, took over Elron. The seven-member board, including four independent directors, approved the proposal. The board will also see the addition of directors Yiniv Rog and Ido Heller, with former Cellebrite CFO Dana Garner joining on Thursday. Arieli acquired a 58% stake in Elron for $53 million in September 2024. In recent months, a conflict erupted between Bentov and Renob and Bachar Menuch, culminating in her filing a police complaint against the two for alleged threats. Bentov and Renob accused her of opposing a settlement arrangement with Phoenix Investments, to whom Arieli owes 100 million shekels from a loan taken to finance the acquisition. They claim Bachar Menuch sought to sell the pledged shares to Phoenix at a low price to a third party. An interim settlement with Phoenix has been reached, where the investment house received approximately 20 million shekels of the loan in exchange for an extension. Elron reported that the board, by majority vote, accepted the proposal from the two controlling shareholders, who also serve as directors, to replace Bachar Menuch with Dani Hoze, who previously chaired Elron when it was controlled by DSC. Hoze has been appointed temporary chairman. The company noted in its report that the outgoing chair raised claims, both written and verbal, regarding the timing of the decision, conflicts of interest, and extraneous considerations by the directors. The directors rejected these claims during the meeting, stating their reasons were based on the company's business and its best interests.