Shaul Elovitch has passed another milestone in his acquisition of the controlling interest in Bezeq The Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ). Elovitch-controlled 012 Smile.Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:SMLC; TASE: SMLC) has signed a NIS 3.9 billion financing agreement with a consortium led by Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) to finance the NIS 6.5 billion deal, as "Globes" first reported in early December.
The syndicate includes Israeli banks Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI), Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT), Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF), First International Bank of Israel (TASE: FTIN1;FTIN5), and Union Bank of Israel (TASE: UNON), HSBC Holdings plc (LSE:HSBA; HKSE: 005; NYSE, Paris: HBC), and Israeli nationalized pension funds manager Amitim, headed by Yael Andoran. Bank Hapoalim will provide a NIS 700 million short-term loan.
Elovitch will provide the balance of the funding from shareholders' equity, which will be based on dividends from Bezeq for the second half of 2009, as well as the sale of Smile's businesses to Ampal-American Israel Corporation (Nasdaq: AMPL; TASE:AMPL) for NIS 1.2 billion. Bezeq distributes 100% of its profit as a dividend every six months.
Elovitch's Eurocom Group subsidiary Internet Gold Golden Lines Ltd. (Nasdaq: IGLD; TASE:IGLD) owns 75.26% of Smile, which is buying the 30% of Bezeq held by Ap-Sab-Ar Holdings Ltd. (the Apax Partners-Saban Capital Group Inc.-Arkin consortium).
Smile's share fell 4.1% on Nasdaq yesterday to $24.45, giving a market cap of $619 million. The share rose 0.4% by midday on the TASE today to NIS 92.50. Internet Gold's share rose 1.8% on Nasdaq yesterday to $23.13, giving a market cap of $417 million, and the share rose 2.1% on the TASE to NIS 88. Bezeq's share rose 0.7% to NIS 9.49, giving a market cap of NIS 25.08 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 11, 2010
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