Zisser vows to avoid mistakes of Eastern Europe in India

"That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun."

In a presentation before capital market analysts on Sunday, Elbit Medical Imaging controlling shareholder Moti Zisser quoted Ecclesiastes to illustrate the next chapter in his company's global real estate initiatives. Zisser hopes to repeat the highly profitable Eastern European gambit of the past decade in India - without its mistakes. He believes he can find the company's next growth driver in the subcontinent. He also had something concrete to announce: an intention to invest $800 million in Indian commercial properties over two years, from shopping centers to residential and commercial space to hospitals and dairy farms.

But some things are destined to change after all. Zisser promises that he won't make the same mistake he made in Eastern Europe. "This time I will sell higher," Zisser said. He has more patience this time. Although Zisser make hundreds of millions of dollars in property development projects, he saw prices continue to climb after he cashed in. But weighted down by heavy debt, at a time when the capital market was less forgiving, he had no choice and was forced to sell early.

Elbit Imaging offered a schematic flow chart picturing the profits that the company expects to make from the sale of developed commercial real estate in India. The firm is forecasting that property values will rise faster than rents with India's blooming economy generating huge profits for the company.

Zisser also managed to enthrall his audience as he outlined plans for development of dairy farms. "Milk products in India have a shelf life of a day or two, not like in Israel. Milk is kept uncooled. Retailers like Nestle and Carrefore will be arriving in India within two or three years, and they will need local producers like us," he says.

Zisser sees a potential for 3,000 shopping centers to serve the middle-income market, based on a global average of one shopping center per 100,000 people, and 300,000,000 people in India belong to the so-called middle income class. He emphasized the existing shortage of 50 million apartments, with Elbit aiming for the smaller, high-end market,which includes a million to 2 million apartments, and may also set its sights on the middle-income market in the future.

Zisser also expressed no concerns over the strict regulatory system maintained in India. "We had a hard time in Eastern Europe, too," he said.

"The plans seem big and ambitious, but the investment is based on real demand," confirmed one Prisma capital market analyst.

"I expect that Elbit Imaging will reduce its investment in Eastern Europe, maintaining a presence there in niche areas like its huge Bucharest and Budapest projects, and focus on India. I'm not saying there is no risk, but nevertheless, the country's economic environment is certainly good."