U.S. Insurance Groups Finance $20,000,000 Housing Project for Israel

A $20,000,000 housing project for Israel involving seven major American insurance companies, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Inc., the Atlantic Associates, Inc., an American housing company established by a group of prominent real estate men headed by Jack D. Weiler of New York, and the Israel Economic Development Corporation Ltd., was concluded this weekend.

This transaction involved $9,000,000 of 15-year secured notes purchased by a group of insurance companies headed by Aetna Life Insurance Company which took the major share. The others include Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Philadelphia; Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., Springfield, Mass.; New England Mutual Life Insurance Co.; Boston; Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co.; Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Co., both of Philadelphia and Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co., Hartford.

The equity capital in this transaction amounted to $1,500,000 and the junior capital provided by the Israel Economic Development Corp., was $9,500,000, thus completing the total investment required. This type of financing of low cost housing for Israel immigrants was originated in 1962 by a group known as American Associates, Inc. and headed by Mr. Weiler. This was followed by a second and third transaction known as United Associates, Inc. and Intercontinental Associates, Inc. respectively.

The transaction concluded this morning is the fourth one in the series. In the aggregate, the total of these four transactions was $60,000,000 and accounted for 12,000 housing units designed to accommodate new immigrant families. Mr. Weiler, on behalf of the Atlantic Associates, indicated “that the continuing interest shown by American insurance companies has greatly heartened investment-minded realtors who are concerned with the problem of financing large-scale immigrant housing. This pattern has made it possible by virtue of creating rental housing to expand the utilization of available funds for absorption of Israel’s newcomers.”

Besides Mr. Weiler, the group of investors who provided the equity capital were Samuel Lemberg, Abraham Feinberg, Dewey D. Stone, Hermann Merkin, Aron Chilewich, Irwin S. Chanin, Benjamin Swig of San Francisco and Lawrence Schacht. Negotiations for the formation of Atlantic Associates, Inc. and its loan from the insurance companies were conducted, as in the three previous instances, by Gottlieb Hammer, executive vice-chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Inc.