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Sky fund watches and waits for 012 Smile talks: Elovitch will probably sell YES and Smile's current businesses to order to acquire Bezeq.
Nov 03, 2009 (Globes - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Sources inform "Globes" that Sky Private Equity Fund is waiting for developments in Shaul Elovitch's sales of the business activities of 012 Smile.Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:SMLC; TASE: SMLC) and his stake in DBS Satellite Services (1998) Ltd. (YES). Sky Fund, run by managing partner Zvi Yochman, has sent out feelers to find out if Elovitch will end up selling Smile's activities to Hot Cable Systems Media Ltd. (TASE: HOT) rather than to Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR), in which case it will consideer stepping in.
Sources at Sky Fund confirmed that it is considering investing in either Smile or YES.
Elovitch owns the stakes in YES and Smile through Eurocom Group. He has to sell YES and Smile's current international calls and Internet services provider (ISP) businesses to order to acquire the controlling interest in Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) through Smile. He has not yet contacted the Antitrust Authority or the Ministry of Communications for approval of the Bezeq deal. However, he will reportedly be required by them to sell Smile's businesses and YES. The sale of the YES stake is more complicated, because the Supreme Court has ruled that Bezeq may not own more than 50 percent of YES; combined, Bezeq's current 49.6 percent and Eurocom's 32.6 percent stake are well over the restriction.
Sky Fund, especially Yochman, is familiar with the Israeli telecommunications market, especially the ISP sector. It jointly controlled NetVision Ltd. (TASE: NTSN) with Nochi Dankner-controlled IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) until June 2007, when they dismantled the partnership. IDB bought out Sky Fund's 11.6 percent holding at NIS 57 per share, a 16 percent premium on the share price at the time, for NIS 179 million.
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