Maccabi Tel Aviv sponsor accuses: "The Recanati family deceived the other shareholders"
Against the backdrop of the Recanati family's announcement to the other owners that it is selling half of its shares to Jason Levin, Eric Stillman claims that the process of acquiring the Federman family's share was illegal, and that in fact, they have no right to carry out the deal with Levin.
Serious allegations have been raised by Eric Stillman, owner of the Rapid company and a sponsor of Maccabi Tel Aviv. Stillman accuses the Recanati family of conducting an illegal acquisition of the Federman family's share in the club last month, arguing that the subsequent deal to sell half of their shares to businessman Jason Levin, as reported by ynet, is also invalid.
Stillman claims that on July 6, the Recanati family reached an agreement with Levin to sell 29% of their shares—which effectively represented the Federman family's portion—but only announced a day later that they were exercising their right of first refusal to purchase the Federmans' shares. The claim suggests that the Recanati family acted behind the backs of other shareholders, rendering the process illegal and granting the remaining owners the right to purchase the Recanati family's entire stake.
"The Recanati family never bought the 'Fedenko' shares in Maccabi! They deceived the shareholders. Jason Levin financed the deal for them and therefore the 'right of first refusal' was never exercised. He was the buyer from day one and this is contrary to the shareholders' agreement," Stillman wrote in a post on X.
In a follow-up tweet, Stillman added: "They closed a deal with Levin on July 6 (or before) to buy 29% of Maccabi's shares. At that point, they only had 29%. After that, they hid it from the Maccabi shareholders and 'exercised the right of first refusal' on Fedenko. The very act of concealment cancels the deal on the Fedenko shares, and the agreement with Jason activates a right of first refusal on them."
As part of the recent sale, the stake held by the Federman family through the "Fedenko Sport" company passed to the Recanati family after they exercised their right of first refusal to dilute the Federmans' shares and bring in Eric Stillman as an additional owner. The other shareholders are Shimon Mizrahi, who holds 14.5%, Richard Deitch with 17.5%, and Ben Ashkenazi with 10%.
