The struggle in the Orion board of directors complicates: Are the Ha-Bayta representatives in a conflict of interest?

Tomorrow, the shareholders' meeting of the Orion company is expected to take place, where decisions regarding the composition of the board of directors will be made. The shareholder Ha-Bayta Living, which holds 7% of the shares, is seeking to change the board's composition. The Meitav investment house, the largest shareholder (18.1%) in Orion, has joined forces with Ha-Bayta, and both entities are seeking to appoint four directors, including Ha-Bayta founders Yovav Karmi and Ariel Prestman.

The Ha-Bayta group identifies real estate investments in Central and Eastern Europe for private and institutional funds and manages assets there, with operations in Warsaw. Both were previously senior executives at the real estate company GTC. In recent years, they left their positions as CEO (Karmi, 2020–2022) and CFO (Prestman, 2020–2023) at GTC under circumstances that were not detailed to investors.

There is a fear of a conflict of interest between their private activities at Ha-Bayta and the activities of Orion. For example, if a business opportunity in Poland arises, will they offer it to Orion or focus on it within their private framework? Orion, a company without a controlling core, was established last December by Chaim Katzman's G City, following a spin-off of three income-generating assets in Poland valued at 455 million euros. The company is currently traded at a value of 87 million shekels and has lost 32% of its value since its IPO.

Prestman stated that they intend to maintain careful corporate governance and prevent conflicts of interest, arguing that their experience is an asset to Orion. Meanwhile, the Capital Market Authority has requested clarifications from Meitav regarding their move, viewing it as an attempt to take over Orion.