Israeli operator Cellcom has received ministerial approval for a change in the indirect control of the company as part of a creditors’ arrangement for indebted controlling shareholder IDB Holdings.
Investors Eduardo Elzstain and Mordechai Ben Moshe…
Israeli operator Cellcom has received ministerial approval for a change in the indirect control of the company as part of a creditors’ arrangement for indebted controlling shareholder IDB Holdings.
Investors Eduardo Elzstain and Mordechai Ben Moshe will take effective control of the telco via IDB’s 45% holding when the debt-restructuring agreement is closed, which local reports suggest could be this Wednesday.
The communications ministry reviewed the deal as Cellcom’s network infrastructure is considered a strategic national asset. The approval was the final hurdle the rescue deal had to clear.
The financiers agreed to take over indebted IDB last year in a deal which included a NIS650m (US$186m) cash injection into the group. Local tycoon Nochi Dankner lost control of IDB after a decision by a Tel Aviv judge to approve a bailout plan from Elztain and Ben Moshe.
Last December Cellcom agreed to share a 4G network and passive cell site elements with smaller competitors Pelephone Communications and Golan Telecom.
