Optibase receives favourable award in arbitration with Merrill Lynch

Optibase has announced that a New York Stock Exchange-appointed arbitration panel has awarded the company $1.79 million, on a February 2002 claim related to an investment dispute with Merrill Lynch.
The claim involved an investment made between 1999 and 2000 by Optibase in the Merrill Lynch Senior Floating Rate Portfolio, a mutual fund managed by Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, which was not a party to the arbitration. Optibase alleged that Merrill Lynch's brokerage arm, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, acting as an investment adviser to the Company, sold the Fund investment to Optibase despite the high risk that it carried which made it unsuitable for Optibase's needs, causing the company to suffer losses on the investment. The $1.79 million awarded by the panel represents damages as calculated by Optibase's damage expert. Some costs associated with the subsequent arbitration were also awarded to Optibase.
(GB)