Jackie Cohen Joins Barclays Group as CEO After Leaving Peninsula Credit Company

Just one week after stepping down from his role managing the non-bank credit company Peninsula, Jackie Cohen has been appointed partner and CEO of the Barclays Group, owned by businessman and entrepreneur Moti Green. Cohen arrives at Barclays following a three-year tenure leading Peninsula, which is controlled by the investment house Meitav. Prior to Peninsula, Cohen held several senior management positions at Bank Hapoalim, including head of the business and commercial divisions.

Barclays Group is advancing several tourism projects in Eilat and the Dead Sea area, most notably the "Atlantis City" project at the Dead Sea hotel complex. This development is planned to cover approximately 110,000 square meters of built space and will feature 400 suites, commercial areas, and a conference center with a capacity exceeding 4,000 people. Last month, Barclays Hotels, a subsidiary promoting the Dead Sea complex, filed a prospectus to raise about 400 million shekels through bond issuance on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

According to the prospectus, the company has equity of roughly 740 million shekels but is entering the market with a working capital deficit of about 240 million shekels and a negative cash flow from operations of 125 million shekels. Additionally, Barclays owns the "City of Kings" complex in Eilat, acquired in 2015 in partnership with the Nakash brothers. Last year, Barclays also purchased the public company Jensel, formerly owned by Benny Landa, which developed fuel cells for electricity generation but faced financial difficulties, for 30 million shekels.