Members of Kibbutz Hanita are suing the Chinese-controlled Ballet Vision fund for refusing to buy their remaining stake in an intraocular lens plant, citing losses and what it says is a Chinese government ban on new investments in Israel since the war

Members of Kibbutz Hanita near Israel’s northern border are demanding $11 million from Ballet Vision, the Chinese fund that controls 80% of the Hanita Lenses plant, accusing it of refusing to exercise an option to purchase the kibbutz’s remaining shares, according to a lawsuit filed in Tel Aviv District Court.

In a response letter attached to the lawsuit, the Chinese fund said that since the outbreak of the war in Israel, Beijing has classified Israel as a “high-risk area” and imposed a ban on any new Chinese investments in the country, making it impossible to carry out the option.

According to the lawsuit, in 2021 the kibbutz sold 74% of Hanita Lenses, which manufactures intraocular lenses for medical use, to Ballet Vision for $35 million. Of that sum, $25 million was paid to kibbutz members, with an additional $10 million injected into the company.

  • skisnow@lemmy.caEnglish
    1·
    2 hours ago

    accusing it of refusing to exercise an option

    Was this written by an AI or by an illiterate? That’s not what the rest of the article says happened. The Chinese fund didn’t refuse to exercise the option, they refused to honour an option that they’d already signed. The opening sentence makes it look like Kibbutz Hanita are pulling a fast one, when it’s the exact opposite.

      • skisnow@lemmy.caEnglish
        1·
        2 hours ago

        That’s my whole point, it wasn’t Ballet Vision’s option to exercise, it was Kibbutz Hanita’s, but the opening summary erroneously describes it as the exact opposite. Here’s from later on in the article:

        As part of the agreements, the Chinese fund granted the remaining minority shareholders an option to require it to purchase their remaining shares for about $9.5 million, now valued at roughly $11 million, by early December 2025.

        https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/putoption.asp

        (edit: I had a little search just now to see whether it was true that China have made it illegal to invest in Israeli companies. Half the results were literally reporting on this story, and the other half of results were about Chinese companies actively aiding illegal Israeli settlements, which makes me suspect that BV’s claim that their hands are tied is bullshit.)