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Israel: Antitrust authority summons Cellcom over Golan deal

By  |  March 28, 2016

Cellcom has been summoned by Israel’s anti-monopoly commission over its planned purchase of smaller low-cost rival Golan Telecom, the country’s largest mobile phone operator said on Monday.

The antitrust authority has informed Cellcom that it is considering opposing the current layout of the proposed purchase of Golan, Cellcom said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Cellcom agreed to buy French-owned Golan for 1.17 billion shekels ($305 million) last November but the deal has faced political opposition and regulatory hurdles.

Golan Telecom said rejecting the deal would have a negative impact on the market and cause prices to rise.

“A decision against the deal is also against European and OECD standards where there have been mergers in the market from 5 to 4 players. A decision against approving the deal would signal to foreign investors that Israel does not respect the rules of conduct and OECD standards.”

Full content: PR Newswire

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