Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made a $68 million bid to buy Camp Mohawk, the summer camp his children attended. His investment vehicle Grandview Ventures reached a deal with Simad Holdings to serve as the stalking horse bidder for the camp in Westchester County, New York.
Simad Holdings, the camp’s parent company, filed for bankruptcy in June after defaulting on payments to its Israeli bondholders. The company was founded by David and Michael Shabsels, who owned 30 popular U.S. summer camps, including Mohawk and Camp Blue Star. In late May, Simad revealed it would default on $214 million in bonds. The company further disclosed that the Shabselses had diverted $34 million to companies they controlled. A month later, Simad and other Shabsels-controlled entities filed for bankruptcy, handing control to a restructuring officer.
“This is a personal family investment that reflects our lifelong belief that summer camp can be a wonderful part of a child’s growth, and Mohawk’s history as a successful camp experience for so many kids, including our own,” a spokesperson for Warner Bros. said in a statement. Zaslav’s three children are now adults.
Mohawk is the most valuable and profitable of Simad’s 30 camps. An appraiser valued the property at $85.8 million in a December 2025 appraisal. The camp had a projected revenue of $22.85 million for 2026. As a stalking horse, Zaslav’s bid sets the floor price. Other bidders can submit higher offers in an auction. Bidders have until July 20 to file an objection to his selection. The bankruptcy court must still approve any winning bid.
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The restructuring officer and attorneys handling Simad are moving quickly. Last week, Simad agreed to sell Camp Achim, a Jewish summer camp in the Catskills, to the existing camp operator for $7 million, a slight increase from its appraised value of $6.3 million. That deal also awaits court approval.
The pace of these sales gives creditors a sense of what they might recover. If the camps sell close to their appraised values, secured creditors should be repaid. Appraisal firm Leitner Berman valued Simad’s camps at $466 million in December 2025, well above the $344 million owed to secured creditors. Simad, through the Shabselses, also took on over $100 million in high-interest merchant cash advance loans. Those lenders are listed as unsecured creditors and are unlikely to be paid back, according to the bankruptcy documents.
Camp Mohawk consists of a day camp and a school known as Camp Mohawk Day Camp and Country Day School. The White Plains, New York, camp was founded in 1930. Simad recently secured $60 million in debtor-in-possession financing to keep its camps operating for the summer session.
Zaslav is pursuing the purchase of Mohawk as Vital pursues a $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. This week, a dozen state attorneys general sued Vital and Warner Bros. Discovery to stop the deal over antitrust concerns.