The joint Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Communications tenders committee yesterday reaffirmed Golan Telecom's win in the mobile carrier tender. The review followed reservations expressed by the Appeals Court that is hearing the appeal by Hezi Bezalel's Marathon Telecom Ltd. against Golan Telecom's win in the tender.
The Appeals Court issued a temporary injunction against Golan Telecom's win until Friday, to give the tenders committee the opportunity to more thoroughly review its decision to award the tender to Golan Telecom. The court found that the tenders committee did not adequately explain Golan Telecom's win.
Marathon argues that tenders committee work was flawed, and had it done its work properly, it would have awarded the tender to Marathon.
Marathon Telecom subsidiary 018 Xfone Communications Ltd. won the original tender with a bid of NIS 705 million, but was subsequently disqualified by the tenders committee when it failed to provide the necessary guarantees from an Israeli bank. The tender was awarded to second-place finisher Select Communications Ltd., controlled by Michael Gelfand and Louis Mayerberg, which bid NIS 695 million. That bid too was disqualified for the same reason, at which point the Golan Telecom, which bid NIS 360 million was awarded the license. Patrick Drahi's Mirs Communications Ltd. was the second winner with a bid of NIS 710 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on August 18, 2011
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