Best in unusual announcement: Owners mistakenly took about 1 million shekels from the company - and returned it
The real estate group Best, which went public last June, announced an investigation due to concerns about financial irregularities in a subsidiary. According to the announcement, while the company was private, the controlling shareholders and a relative took — they claim by mistake — a sum of up to 1 million shekels from the subsidiary's funds without required approvals. Upon discovery, the amount was returned immediately, including interest.
The Best group, which engages in real estate development, construction, and finishing works in Israel, as well as income-producing real estate abroad, announced an investigation following concerns about financial irregularities in a subsidiary. This comes after the company went public only last June.
The investigation began following information received from VAT authorities regarding a subcontractor, according to the group's announcement to the stock exchange. It was found that between October 2024 and June 2026, funds were taken without approval, but they were subsequently returned with interest.
According to the announcement, a concern arose that during the period between October 2024 and June 2026, while the company was private, the controlling shareholders and a relative took — they claim by mistake — through a subcontractor, a sum of approximately 0.7 million to 1 million shekels from the subsidiary's funds, without the required approvals and contrary to company procedures. Upon the issue becoming known, the controlling shareholders immediately returned a total of 1.1 million shekels to the company, reflecting the upper limit of the amount plus interest at the maximum rate the company pays to financing entities.
In addition, as part of the investigation, a concern arose that during the same period, a total of about 2.2 million shekels was transferred from a non-material project of the subsidiary through a subcontractor, despite not being budgeted, and was paid to third parties not related to the controlling shareholders in violation of company procedures.
A comprehensive and in-depth investigation
As external directors have not yet been appointed and an audit committee has not yet been established, the chairman of the board authorized Shlomi Drori, the company's internal auditor ("the independent examiner"), accompanied by Adv. Zvi Agmon and Adv. Yehuda Gindi from the law firm Agmon with Tulchinsky, to conduct a comprehensive and in-depth investigation.
The company provided the independent examiner with all powers and means required to perform the investigation into the nature of the irregularities, their scope, and the manner of their occurrence. The Best group stated that it will act in accordance with the examiner's recommendations to improve controls and procedures and will take additional actions to ensure such events do not recur. The investigation is ongoing.
Recall that last June, the Best group completed its first offering on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange at a valuation of about 3 billion shekels post-money. The construction company, owned by the Tanous family (80%) and the insurance company Phoenix (20%), raised about 400 million shekels and received demand of nearly 1 billion shekels.
Best was founded in 1972 and operates in real estate development, construction, and finishing works in Israel, as well as income-producing real estate abroad. It has an order backlog of 5.3 billion shekels and employed 412 workers at the end of last year.
