Alon Blue Square Announces Court Approval for Stay of Proceedings for Its 51% Subsidiary, Eden Briut Teva Market

YAKUM, Israel, July 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Alon Blue Square Israel Ltd. (NYSE: BSI) (hereinafter: the "Company") announced today that the District Court in Lod, Israel approved a stay of proceedings until a court hearing scheduled for July 14 for its 51% indirect subsidiary, Eden Briut Teva Market Ltd. ("Eden"), at the ex parte request of Eden and the Company's subsidiary, Mega Retail Ltd. ("Mega").  The court also approved the appointment of Adv. Dorit Levy Tyller as trustee of Eden during the stay of proceeding period. The request submitted to court by Eden and Mega described obligations of Eden to its creditors of approximately NIS 80.8 million plus debts to banks in the aggregate amount of approximately NIS 75 million (of which bank debt is secured by guarantees in part by the Company (NIS 29 million) and in part by Mega (NIS 46 million)), in addition to Eden obligations to Mega of approximately NIS 101 million for shareholder loans.

In its request to the court, Mega agreed to finance the activity of Eden in the amount of NIS 8.5 million during the period of the stay of proceeding. In addition, Mega proposed a creditors' arrangement for Eden under which Mega would purchase all the shares or  assets of Eden and pay various amounts to different classes of creditors of Eden, including: a payment of some of the debts to preferred creditors in class 1 and class 2 (which includes employees and income tax deductions); a payment of 75% of the debts to banks whose obligations are guaranteed by Mega, and for banks whose obligations are guaranteed by the Company, payment in accordance with repayment provisions for banks in the plan of recovery and arrangement of Mega; and a payment of 60% of the debts to ordinary creditors. Mega's proposal is subject to certain conditions, including the approval of Mega Retail's debt arrangement by the court and the ability of Mega to negotiate or to cancel certain lease agreements of Eden's stores.

A court hearing has been scheduled for July 14.  

Alon Blue Square Israel Ltd. (hereinafter: "Alon Blue Square") operates in four reportable operating segments and is the largest retail company in the State of Israel. In the Fueling and Commercial Sites segment, Alon Blue Square through its 71.17% subsidiary, which is listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange ")TASE"), Dor Alon Energy in Israel (1988) Ltd is one of the four largest fuel retail companies in Israel based on the number of petrol stations and a leader in the field of convenience stores operating a chain of 212 petrol stations and 219 convenience stores in different formats in Israel. In its supermarket segment, Alon Blue Square, as a pioneer in the modern food retail, through its 100% subsidiary, Mega Retail Ltd., currently operates 192 supermarkets under different formats, each offering a wide range of food products, "Near Food" products and "Non-Food" products at varying levels of service and pricing. In its "Houseware and textile" segment, Alon Blue Square, through its TASE traded 77.51% subsidiary, Na'aman Group (NV) Ltd. operates specialist outlets in self-operation and franchises and offers a wide range of "Non-Food" products as retailer and wholesaler. In the Real Estate segment, Alon Blue Square, through its TASE traded 61.19% subsidiary Blue Square Real Estate Ltd., owns, leases and develops income producing commercial properties and projects. In addition, Alon Blue Square through its 100% subsidiary, Alon Cellular Ltd, operates an MVNO network in Israel, through Diners Club Israel Ltd., an associate held at 49%, which operates in the sector of issuance and clearance of YOU credit cards to the customer club members of the group and through Dr. Baby Marketing and Distribution 888 Ltd. 100 % held subsidiary as a retailer and wholesaler in the baby products sector.

Forward-looking statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, plans or projections about our business, our future revenues, expenses and profitability. Forward-looking statements may be, but are not necessarily, identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "believes," and words and terms of similar substance. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events, results, performance, circumstance and achievements to be materially different from any future events, results, performance, circumstance and achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, the following: the uncertainty of approval by applicable regulatory authorities of the rights offering, market conditions, the uncertainty of participation by shareholders in the proposed rights offering, the Company's board of directors discretion whether to complete such offering, the effect of the economic conditions in Israel on the sales in our stores and of our products and on our profitability; our ability to compete effectively against low-priced supermarkets, large fuel companies and our other competitors; enactment of new laws and regulations, including the enactment of recommendations of governmental appointed committees and regulations with respect to the procurement of petroleum products by fuel companies and the price of petroleum products that are subject to regulation; quarterly fluctuations in our operating results that may cause volatility of our ADS and share price; fluctuations in the price of petroleum products and increases in excise tax rates imposed on the sale of petroleum products in Israel; risks associated with our dependence on a limited number of key suppliers for products that we sell in our stores; the effect of an increase in the minimum wage in Israel on our operating results; the effect of any actions taken by the Israeli Antitrust Authority on our ability to execute our business strategy and on our profitability; the effect of increases in oil, raw material and product prices in recent years; the effects of damage to our reputation or to the reputation of our store brands due to reports in the media or otherwise; government policies with respect to residential building may have a negative impact on our operations in residential building, and other risks, uncertainties and factors disclosed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including, but not limited to, risks, uncertainties and factors identified under the heading "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2014. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except for our ongoing obligations to disclose material information under the applicable securities laws, we undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release. 

Contact:

Alon Blue Square Israel Ltd.
Elli Levinson-Sela, Adv,
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Telephone: +972-9-9618504
Fax: +972-9-9618636
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Alon Blue Square Israel Ltd