Yuli Ofer's son seeks injunction on will

Late billionaire left behind two wills: First divides his financial empire equally between son Doron, daughter Liora; second, drawn up after he experienced health complications, names daughter sole beneficiary of family's holding company. Doron Ofer goes to court to try to revoke subsequent will

Golan Hazani, Calcalist|Published: 10.16.11 , 13:43

The plot of the estate of billionaire Yuli Ofer, who died last month, thickens: Ofer left behind two inconsistent wills – the first distributes his stake in Ofer Investments equally between son Doron and daughter Liora. The second, subsequent will disinherits Doron by naming Liora sole beneficiary of his stake in the company.

Calcalist has learned that both wills were notarized by family lawyer Zvi Ephrat of Gornitzki &Co. Sources with knowledge of the developments say that the drafting of the second will about a year ago was witnessed by Attorney Ephrat and a doctor who determined that Ofer was of sound mind when writing the will; this information, however, was not formally corroborated.

A legal source estimated that if indeed a doctor witnessed the signing of the will, there must have been speculations that the new will would lead to an inheritance dispute. The wills were drawn within several months of each other during which Yuli Ofer experienced serious health problems.

Doron Ofer not privy to new will

Doron Ofer hired attorney Alex Hartman and is planning to launch legal action, in which he will likely demand the invalidation of the second will. To begin with, Doron Ofer will likely file for an injunction on the transferring of Yuli Ofer's Ofer Investments stake to his sister Liora.

According to sources close to the issue, the court will be asked to probe the circumstances under which the second will was drawn up. In the meantime, an application for the appointment of temporary trustee to Yuli Ofer's estate was filed at the Tel Aviv Family Court.

Sources with knowledge of the affair told Calcalist that Liora was privy to the second will and knew of the changes in the will's provisions which were brought to her brother's attention only at a later stage.

According to the sources, Yuli Ofer wished to make amends with his daughter having put her brother at the forefront of his business activity and transferring him considerable assets while still alive. In the latter years of Yuli Ofer's life, Liora took over the management of his business with considerable success due to which Yuli Ofer changed his entire approach on the backdrop of his fallout with Doron.

The core asset in Yuli Ofer's estate is a 36.7% stake in Ofer Investments, which controls commercial property management firm Melisron and Bank Mizrahi Tefahot.

Ofer Investment holds a 19.7% stake in the bank and the family as a whole holds 25.44% of the bank's shares which are worth NIS 1.4 billion ($380 million), in addition to direct holdings through L.I.N. Holdings. Ofer Investments holds 71.5% of Melisron which are worth NIS 1.6 billion ($440 million).

So far, Ofer Investments holdings were distributed between father Yuli (36.7%) and each of his children – Doron and Liora (15% each). The remainder of the shares was held by Eyal Ofer, the son of Yuli's late brother Sammy.

As per the first will, Yuli's shares were to be divided in equal portions between Doron and Liora leaving each with 33.35% of the shares. The second will leaves all of the shares to Liora whereas Doron receives none. This would leave Liora with a 51.7% stake in the company while Doron remains with his previously held 15%.

Doron walked out – Liora stepped in

Yuli Ofer has always seen Doron as his successor to his business empire which is why Doron received considerable assets throughout the years, unlike his sister, including 33% of Ofer Shipping which he later sold to his cousin Idan Ofer and former brother-in-law Udi Angel.

Sources close to the family claim that Yuli was not able to witness his daughter's business skills as her ex-husband Udi Angel usually stood at the forefront of their business during their marriage.

However, in recent years the tables turned when in 2003, just before the Ofer brothers split their holdings, Doron Ofer stepped down from the management of Ofer Holdings, focusing instead on the management of his own real estate business.

Sources close to the family claimed at the time that Doron left the company on the backdrop of a fallout between him and his father; some sources even claimed that Yuli was upset over his son's less than satisfactory results which he covered up and decided to oust him from his position. Others claim it was Doron that decided to venture into his own independent business.

Following Doron's resignation, Liora took the reins of the family outfit in which she never held an executive position until that point. Liora is regarded as a more accomplished manager than her brother. One of her greatest successes is Melisron which under her management as vice chairwomen in her father's company, became one of Israel's leading commercial property management firm.

Not on speaking terms

While the personnel shuffle was underway, relations between the father and son and between the two siblings became strained. Doron and Liora are said not to be on speaking terms with each other despite living in close proximity.

On the backdrop of the fallout between the two, Yuli Ofer's funeral was held for only a small number of relatives and acquaintances and was closed to the press.

Two years ago, the dispute between the family members deepened when Doron objected to his sister's initiative to acquire Africa-Israel holdings in the Ramat Aviv and the Savyonim malls.

Sources close to the family claimed that Doron's objection deepened the chasm between Doron and his father who was in favor of the deal.

"Liora always made it a point to keep her father up to date on her business moves and to receive his approval in advance so Doron's opposition was blocked," a family acquaintance told Calcalist.

The day Yuli Ofer passed away, another family feud broke out after Doron refused to sign the formula for the separation of Ofer Investments' real and financial holdings.

"All in all, in dying, Yuli gave his daughter what he gave his son when alive, this is not a case of disinheritance," said a source with knowledge of the developments in recent days.

Other sources expressed their astonishment at the father's decision: "A decade ago Yuli and Sammy decided to separate their holdings which meant they were aiming to avoid inheritance disputes. They saw what happened to other wealthy families and decided to make sure it wouldn’t happen to theirs.

"On the other hand, Yuli made a decision that inevitably would have a direct outcome of an inheritance dispute and it seemed this was clear to him. He must've had a good reason to do what he did."