The dilemma of the 300 members of Kibbutz Yizre'el and the talk in the dining hall about the fall of Maytronics

In recent days, we tried to talk to members of Kibbutz Yizre'el about Maytronics, the company that the kibbutz founded and developed, and which reported last week on talks to transfer control of it to the FIMI investment fund. Again and again, when it became clear that the topic of conversation was Maytronics, which for years was identified as a success story due to the production of swimming pool cleaning robots, the members hung up or refused to talk.

Only one member of the kibbutz finally agreed to describe to Globes what the crash of the company looks like from the inside, which at the beginning of the current decade became the kibbutz factory with the highest value, when each of the 300 members of the kibbutz became a capital owner of 17 million shekels on average, on paper.

"Falling from a high place to a deep pit is not fun," she says. "It is clear that it affects the mood in the kibbutz, and above all, it hurts our pride. But to tell the truth, the kibbutz has already been in low places economically in the 80s and until the end of the 90s, and we knew how to get out of crises that were not simple."

There is a reason why the collective memory is now returning to the 80s. In the middle of that decade, Yizre'el was included in what was called the "List of 19", a group of kibbutzim whose economic situation was defined as particularly difficult. However, from that crisis, almost by chance, the factory that would change the situation of the kibbutz from one end to the other was born.

Maytronics

Activity: The company is engaged in the development, production and marketing of electronic robots for cleaning swimming pools.

History: The company was founded in 1983 by Kibbutz Yizre'el. In 2004, the company became public after its IPO on the stock exchange. The kibbutz has about 300 members.

Data: At its peak, the company reached a value of about 9 billion shekels. Today, the value stands at less than 300 million shekels. As of the end of 2025, the company employs about 1,100 employees.

Refused to sell

The story begins in 1983, when Lenny Hirsch, a member of the kibbutz, was exposed in South Africa to a pool cleaning robot. The kibbutz purchased the rights, developed and improved the product in Israel, and in the years that followed, Maytronics was built around it. In 2004, the company was listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

In 2012, the relationship between the kibbutz and the factory was put to the test. The American pool equipment giant Hayward offered to purchase Yizre'el's holdings in Maytronics for about 180 million shekels, an amount that reflected a company value of about 350 million shekels. The offer was tempting, as it reflected a 30% premium on the stock price on the stock exchange, but after a stormy kibbutz meeting, the members accepted the opinion of the Maytronics management, led by the then CEO Yuval Barry, who presented them with the company's future growth plans.

Later it turned out that in Yizre'el they made the right decision. In the following years, revenues and profits grew at a rapid pace and the company became the world leader in its field. The kibbutz realized some of its shares in 2017 and 2020 for about 230 million shekels, but kept the controlling shares in its hands. The connection to Maytronics was never perceived in Yizre'el as a financial holding. Members explained then that they were not looking for an exit and the money from the sale was intended for the development of infrastructure, construction and maintaining the kibbutz also for future generations.

And then came the coronavirus, which turned the success of Maytronics into a real bonanza. The world locked itself in, the demand for home maintenance products skyrocketed and Maytronics robots also took part in the celebration. The company increased its market share to more than half of the global market, and in November 2021 reached a peak value of 9.1 billion shekels. On paper, 56% of the shares held by the kibbutz were worth more than 5 billion shekels.

However, at that peak, some of the problems that would be discovered later were already sown. The coronavirus not only increased demand, it caused the company's distributors around the world to advance purchases, the distributors ordered large quantities of robots and when life returned to its course, they were left with large inventories. At the same time, interest rates rose, consumers became more cautious and distributors began to manage their working capital tightly with smaller and more frequent orders. In a short time, the growth engine of the coronavirus period became a burden.

The Chinese jumped into the pool

While Maytronics was trying to bring the supply chain back into balance, the robot market itself changed. Chinese manufacturers like Aiper began to offer similar products, but much cheaper, and over time they also improved in quality and technology. In the following reports, Maytronics admitted that "the change in demand characteristics and competition characteristics" hurt its market share.

These changes were reflected in its results: in 2023, revenues still reached about 1.9 billion shekels, but net profit had already fallen by 32% to 143 million shekels. In 2024, sales stood at 1.6 billion shekels and the company moved to show a loss of 35 million shekels. In 2025, revenues continued to fall (1.4 billion shekels) and Maytronics showed a huge loss of 228 million shekels, mainly due to large inventory and asset write-offs.

At the same time, the stock price on the stock exchange was eroded and it has lost, as of today, 97% of its peak value. Even after jumping by tens of percent in the last week against the background of the contacts for its sale to the FIMI fund, Maytronics is traded at a reduced value of only 245 million shekels.

Who was at the wheel?

This fall occurred over several managements, but for a large part of the period, one person was in a key position on the board of directors. Yonatan Bashy served as chairman of Maytronics for about 14 years, until 2024. He accompanied the company during the great growth years and the beginning of the deterioration after the coronavirus. Bashy refused to be interviewed for the article.

At the same time, there was a turnover in the CEO position: Eyal Tryber, who inherited Barry in 2015 and led Maytronics to its peaks, retired at the end of 2021. He was replaced by Sharon Goldenberg, the former CFO, during whose time the company fell into a crisis. Goldenberg announced his retirement in 2025 and in February of this year, Rafi Ben Ami, former manager of Applied Materials operations in Israel, took office.

"To say that there are no mutual accusations in the kibbutz? It is impossible to say that there are not," says the kibbutz member who spoke with Globes. "It doesn't happen openly in meetings or in fights, where people 'tear each other apart', but here and there there are those who talk. I meet people around the dining table in the kibbutz, so of course there are conversations on the subject of Maytronics."

According to her, the discussion is not only about what to do now, but also about what was not asked in time. "There are also difficult questions here and there, which I think must be asked. Especially if we had heard them three or four years ago, when everything looked good in terms of the company's performance."

It is hard not to return in this context to June 2024. After billions of shekels had already been wiped out from the company's value, the chairman Ron Cohen, a member of Yizre'el (who has since been replaced by Dov Ofer), told Globes that when the members asked if the situation was difficult, he explained to them that "the company is strong and everything is under control." At that stage, Maytronics was still worth about 1.8 billion shekels.

An economic mattress to fall on

Despite the crash on the stock exchange, it is important to distinguish between the loss of Maytronics' value and the kibbutz. Yizre'el remains a cooperative kibbutz and the shares belong to it and not to the individual member. Even so, the blow is significant - today the relative share of each member in the holding is worth, on paper, an average of less than half a million shekels.

The kibbutz member says that the current crisis, as difficult as it may be, does not return Yizre'el overnight to the 80s. "Luckily, over the years we also knew how to put money aside and take care of the kibbutz in all kinds of funds we established, such as an infrastructure development fund, a higher education fund and a mutual aid fund, so that if we reach such a crisis or another, we will know how to deal with it, we will have an economic mattress to fall on. Of course, there are people who managed more extravagantly with the money, and there are those who saved more.

"In any case," she clarifies. "This is just my opinion and there may be other members who think differently than me on the subject."

FIMI enters the picture

On Monday this week, Maytronics reported that it is conducting initial investment talks with Ishay Davidi's FIMI fund, which specializes in improving industrial companies and has successful experience with a number of kibbutz industrial plants. The company granted FIMI a short exclusivity period to examine the investment and if the contacts ripen, it is an investment of several hundred million shekels into the Maytronics treasury, which will help the company deal with debts of about 600 million shekels and strengthen the balance sheet. FIMI tends to acquire control in companies in which it invests, so the deal on the table will lead, if it comes to fruition, to Kibbutz Yizre'el losing control of the company.

Maytronics is already taking efficiency measures, including consolidating production and assembly activities that were done in Dalton and Yizre'el and consolidating product lines. But FIMI will have to deal with a deeper problem than high expenses - a company that has lost momentum in a market it was identified with, is dealing with new and fast competitors, is required to restore profitability and at the same time restore the trust of distributors and investors.

Kibbutz Movement Secretary-General Lior Simcha tells Globes that "in business, and in industry in general, you also need to know how to exit in time, and understand that nothing is forever. A factory can earn a lot for years, and then wake up to a different reality. The world changes, the dollar exchange rate changes and the conditions change. The decision to bring in a strategic partner is a decision of the kibbutz members and it should be made after in-depth learning. In retrospect, everyone sees 6/6, but looking forward these are difficult and brave decisions. Kibbutz Yizre'el has achieved outstanding achievements, thanks to the fact that even in difficult times they knew how to make the right decisions."

In 2012, Yizre'el members rejected an offer to sell control of Maytronics for hundreds of millions of shekels because they did not want to give up the potential inherent in the company. In the peak years, they explained that Maytronics is an asset that should also support the children and grandchildren, and not a company that is looking for an exit. Now, when almost the entire value of the company has been wiped out and it is losing money and carrying heavy debts, it seems that the kibbutz has not been left with many choices.