Univo Pharmaceutical that supplies medical cannabis products request to delay proceedings due to 40 million $ debts

The medical cannabis company Univo Pharmaceutical Industries, which manufactures and supplies medical cannabis products in Israel, as well as a number of subsidiaries it owns, submitted an urgent request on Tuesday to delay proceedings and form a debt settlement as well as a request to appoint a settlement administrator. The request was submitted through attorneys Amir Bartov and Shirley Wilensky from the Bartov & Co. office, as part of an amendment to the law that allows companies that encountered difficulties during the Corona period to apply to a court as part of a procedure in which a settlement manager is appointed and not a trustee.
According to this procedure, control is not taken from the company's management. Univo's CEO is Golan Biton. Businessman Haim Horvitz, son of the founder of Teva company Eli Horvitz, is a shareholder in it and serves as chairman. The company recently announced the recruitment of approximately NIS 11 million from the founder of Palo Alto Networks, Nir Tsuk. Also, in the past it was announced that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert served as a business consultant for the company, but no longer.
As part of the application, it is claimed that "the company, whose main activity is focused on the development, cultivation, production and supply of medical products based on the cannabis plant, ran into significant difficulties mainly due to the new regulation which caused on the one hand an excess of regulation and on the other hand a large number of competitors who do not allow it to repay or at least reduce its debts to Its creditors, including its substantial creditors, who are the bondholders with a net cumulative amount of approximately NIS 21.6 million, Mizrahi Bank with an amount of approximately NIS 12 million, and the Avisror Group with an amount of approximately NIS 7.5 million."
It was further claimed that "the company is in negotiations with parties that will allow it to reach a comprehensive debt settlement with its creditors and the creditors of the companies it owns. Therefore, the company needs breathing room for a short and limited period." The company, which is a public company, states that it is "managed by professional parties in the field and conducts itself transparently with its creditors with the aim of making the company healthy. The company's factory is located in Ashkelon and it is a unique factory capable of producing both flowers and oils as medical cannabis products."
Ehud Olmert said in response that "I hope that the company will get out of trouble. I have not been involved in its affairs for a long time."
The company stated: "Like many companies that deal in cannabis-based products, Univo also ran into difficulties as a result of excessive regulation of the field in Israel, unexpected changes and a lack of appropriate standards for export, etc. These difficulties caused the company, which owned the entire value chain of the field with a production plant, breeding farms , a trading house and a pharmacy, huge losses. Univo turned to the court in order to carry out the necessary recovery steps that will result in the repayment of its debts."