Av-Gad and Barak Finance Launch Joint Urban Renewal Venture in Central Israel

Av-Gad, a leading real estate company, and Barak Finance Group have established a joint subsidiary named "Av-Gad in the City," focusing on urban renewal projects in central Israel. Initially, the new company will take over 24 projects currently managed by Av-Gad. Barak Finance will hold 49% of the shares in the new entity in exchange for an investment of approximately 49 million shekels. Additionally, Barak Finance will pay Av-Gad about 4 million shekels to cover project promotion expenses incurred by Av-Gad until the end of June 2026.

The joint venture will be led by co-CEOs Shay Maimoni, current CEO of Barak Nofech Urban Renewal, and Oded Ratzon, Av-Gad's chief engineer, pending board approvals. This move complements Av-Gad's recent partnerships, including a deal with America Israel Investments in a Ramat Gan project and a January partnership with Spondor-Fedlon in a Tel Mond project, both involving investments of around 21 million shekels for 49% stakes.

Av-Gad CEO Ram Ratzon described the initiative as a strategic step to create a dedicated platform for advancing small and medium-sized urban renewal projects in high-demand areas with high profitability and relatively near construction start dates. This will allow Av-Gad to focus on larger nationwide urban renewal complexes.

Barak Finance, a financial growth and capital management firm active in real estate, investments, and financing, views this venture as a key expansion into development and execution sectors. The article also briefly mentions other unrelated news, including Bank Hapoalim's half-million shekel donation to a community project in Kiryat Shmona, Samsung Israel's marketing campaign for foldable smartphones, and new executive appointments in Israeli companies.