Simad Sells 2 Camps for $75 Million as Debt-Fueled Collapse Carves Up Portfolio

Q: Is David Zaslav's $68M bid a rescue mission or a bargain purchase of an $86M 'crown jewel' property?

It is both, but the financial evidence points more strongly to a bargain purchase wrapped in a rescue narrative. Zaslav’s $68 million offer would stabilize Mohawk Day Camp, which was swept into the bankruptcy of Simad Holdings after its owners defaulted on debt and faced allegations of improper fund transfers. As a stalking horse bid, it gives the estate a floor price, helps preserve camp operations, and could protect a nearly century-old institution that has personal meaning for Zaslav’s family. But the numbers suggest a favorable deal for the buyer. Mohawk was appraised at about $85.8 million in late 2025, making the bid roughly 20% below that valuation. The property is also described in court materials and related reporting as the “crown jewel” of the portfolio — the most valuable and profitable camp in the group. In bankruptcy, distressed sellers often accept discounts, and that appears to be the opportunity here. That said, the appraisal is not the same as what a court-supervised sale will fetch. A stalking horse bid is meant to start the auction, not end it. If other bidders emerge, the final price could move closer to or above appraisal. Zaslav also negotiated protections, including a $2 million breakup fee and expense reimbursement, which is standard but still advantageous. So the bid is a real rescue in operational terms, but at this stage it also looks like a strategically timed attempt to buy a premium asset at a bankruptcy discount.

Q: With his WBD future uncertain, is this camp purchase a passion project or the start of his next chapter?

It looks far more like a passion project than the start of a post-WBD career. The strongest evidence is Zaslav’s own framing of the deal. Warner Bros. Discovery said the $68 million bid for Mohawk Day Camp and Mohawk Country Day School is a personal family investment through Grandview Ventures, not a Warner Bros. Discovery initiative and not an operating role for him. The family’s connection is real: his children attended Mohawk when he lived in Westchester, and the stated rationale is his belief in camp’s value for child development. The structure of the transaction also supports that view. This is a stalking horse bid in a bankruptcy sale, designed to set a floor ahead of auction, not a public launch of a new business platform. Mohawk is a prized asset — nearly 39 acres, major facilities, and an appraisal of about $85.8 million late last year — so it can also be a sound investment. But nothing in the filing suggests Zaslav plans to run camp operations himself. His uncertain future at Warner Bros. Discovery does make the timing notable. The Paramount-Skydance transaction remains contested, and Zaslav could leave with a very large payout if control changes. He also has the personal liquidity to make a bid of this size. Even so, the available facts point to a wealthy executive using personal capital to rescue a place with family meaning, while possibly making a smart asset bet, rather than signaling a wholesale career pivot into the camp business.

2 articles · Updated · The Real Deal · Jul 20

$68 million for Mohawk Day Camp and $7 million for Camp Achim marked the latest asset sales in Simad’s bankruptcy, with more camp disposals expected.
Those deals followed a rapid unraveling after Simad layered roughly $214 million of Israeli bonds on top of more than $100 million in merchant cash advance loans, triggering a liquidity squeeze.
Court filings showed the cash-advance lenders could pull funds directly from company accounts, and Simad soon defaulted on its first bond payment after raising the debt.
$34 million had also been transferred to entities controlled by the Shabsels brothers and could not be returned, helping push dozens of affiliates into Chapter 11 as Israeli regulators opened an investigation.
The breakup is testing values across a camp empire once spanning about 30 properties serving more than 20,000 campers, even though many of the underlying operations remained profitable.