Liora Ofer is an Israeli businesswoman. She is the chairperson of the Israeli firms Ofer Investments Ltd. and Melisron a leading commercial real estate company which is traded in the index of the 25 largest companies on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. In 2016, Ofer became the first woman to receive the “Pioneer Woman” award by Dun & Bradstreet in recognition of her business and volunteer activities and her many achievements over the years.
Biography
Liora Ofer was born in Haifa, where she studied at the Hebrew Reali School. At the age of 20, she began working with her father, the late Israeli billionaire Yuli Ofer at Ofer Investments, which he founded in 1957 together with her brother Sammy Ofer. In 1995, Ofer was appointed General Manager of Coral Beach Eilat Ltd. and in 2007 as the Director and Vice Chairperson of Melisron. In 2008, she was named Chairperson of the company’s Board of Directors. Under Ofer's leadership, Melisron turned into one of Israel’s largest real estate companies, through several acquisitions including 25 shopping malls from British Israel Investments Ltd. and the famous Ramat Aviv mall, which is considered as the best and the most successful shopping center in Israel.
Ofer Investments
The Ofer Brothers Group operated in its early years in the field of shipping and grew to become one of the most prominent investment companies in Israel, branching out into real estate, banking and private equity. Today, Ofer Investments is one of the largest privately-held investment groups in Israel with over $6B in real estate assets, specializes in the acquisition, development and management of residential properties, commercial properties and hotels. The group is a controlling shareholder of Melisron a leading commercial real estate company that is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, one of Israel’s two largest real estate companies focused on premium retail, offices and Hi-Tech parks. The Ofer group was a controlling shareholder of Mizrahi Tefahot bank, the fourth Israeli bank. Ofer was a board member in the bank.
According to Israel's Promotion of Competition and Reduction of Concentration Law, also called the Business Concentration Law set a December 2019 deadline for Israel's largest holding groups to divest some of their holdings. The law, which was passed in 2013, bars companies from holding significant financial and non-financial assets at the same time. The Ofer family preferred to divide their holdings in order to comply with the law's requirements. Ofer sold her holdings in Mizrahi Tefahot Bank to her cousin Eyal Ofer who sold in return, his holdings in Ofer Investments Ltd to Mrs.
Philanthropic activities
Alongside her extensive business activities, throughout the years Liora Ofer has been engaged socially, in the spirit of her father and her family’s tradition, contributing to initiatives that help narrow the gaps in Israeli society and promoting cultural projects in the periphery. Ofer serves as a member of IDC Herzliya’s Board of Directors, and continues the generous and longstanding tradition of the Ofer family’s support of IDC. She has been the chairperson of the Cameri Theatre Friends Association for 15 years; she contributes to Yoram Levinstein’s acting school in the heart of Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood and promotes joint projects between the school and the neighborhood’s residents and children; and she supports the Elmina Theater in Jaffa, which encourages dialogue between Arab and Jewish children and youth. In the past, she was one of the founders of “The Philharmonic in Jeans,” a successful cultural project that acquainted youth with classical music. Ofer has been a supporter of Rabbi Yitzchak Grossman for many years and contributes to activities in the boarding schools that he established, “Migdal Or” and “Kfar Zoharim.” She also assumed the position of Chair of the Israel Cancer Association’s “Knock on the Door” campaign.
