The Ministry of Finance opposes the acquisition of Golan Telecom Ltd. by Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL). Ministry of Finance budget director Amir Levy told "Globes" that the deal between Golan Telecom and Cellcom will not take place, and "Israel is not a third world country, and will not allow Michael Golan to pull a fast one."
According to Levy, the acquisition is practically immoral. He emphasized that the Ministry of Finance would not allow the competition achieved with such hard work to end, and that the frequencies granted to Golan Telecom would not pass to Cellcom. Levy's views have been echoed by a long list of ministers and MKs, who this morning called for the deal to be stopped.
The Ministry of Finance agreed to make things somewhat easier for Golan Telecom by waiving the full investment it should have made with Cellcom in setting up a joint network on condition that it remain in the market in the long term. The fact that Golan nevertheless preferred to sell the company is a slap in the face for the Ministry of Finance, because a number of regulations were made more lenient for Golan over the past year and beyond it.
"Globes" reported last week that the Ministry of Finance had made it clear to Golan that the state had an agreed position it had presented to him, and that the chances that a deal with an existing player in the cellular market would be approved were very slight, because such a deal would not contribute to competition in the market.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 5, 2015
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