Israeli holding company Scailex is in talks with Saban Capital Group regarding the potential sale of its stake in Partner Communications.
Scailex issued a statement to the Tel Aviv stock exchange yesterday, after a local newspaper reported that Saban…
Israeli holding company Scailex is in talks with Saban Capital Group regarding the potential sale of its stake in Partner Communications.
Scailex issued a statement to the Tel Aviv stock exchange yesterday, after a local newspaper reported that Saban had reached an understanding with Scailex to acquire 35-40% of the company for US$400-450m.
The announcement comes after a breakdown in talks with Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa to buy a 75% stake in the firm. TelecomFinance reported in August that this was due to concerns over the Israeli mobile operator’s financial performance.
“Following receipt of the termination notice of the Hutchison transaction, the company is acting to identify various transactions, both financial as well as with respect to its holdings in Partner Communications,” said Scailex in a translation of the statement seen by TelecomFinance.
“As part of these actions, the company is conducting negotiations with the Saban Group and in parallel is examining other transactions with additional entities. However…no points of agreement have been reached with any entity and therefore there is no certainty that the said negotiations will result in a binding transaction.”
Saban has applied to Israel’s major banks to secure US$200m in funding and the deal will be signed within the next two weeks, according to media reports.
Saban Capital Group will take over Partner’s management, including the appointment of the company’s CEO.
Both Scailex and Partner refused to comment further on the deal.
