Bynet Group, owned by the Zisapel brothers, plans to bid in Israel Electric Corporation's (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) telecommunications infrastructure venture. Bynet Internet has an Internet service provider (ISP) license, and since companies with operating licenses may not bid in the tender, the company has obtained a permit from the Ministry of Communications.
Bynet sources confirmed that the company plans to bid in the tender, and that the preparations for making a final decision are now underway. The company is in talks with other companies interested in bidding in the tender.
Lately, the Zisapels have expressed interest in laying a new undersea cable to Israel, and they are apparently seeking to invest in telecommunications infrastructures.
Sources also report that Jonas Birgersson, the CEO of Swedish fiber optic broadband provider ViaEuropa AB, was invited to Israel by Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) to interest him in the IEC venture. It is not clear whether he has decided to participate in the tender, after meeting with some carriers. ViaEuropa links customers by fiber optic cable, while the customer decides which carrier it wants to work with. In other words, the carrier and the infrastructure provider share the customer.
The planners of the IEC venture want a neutral venture, in which the investor and IEC will sell use of the fiber optic network to carriers, not to customers. To operate the venture in the way that ViaEuropa does, the IEC venture's planners would have to change its terms, and it is unclear whether the company will bid in it in any case.
There are two leading bidders in the IEC venture at the moment: a consortium headed by Ram Belinkov, which includes Rapac Communication and Infrastructure Ltd. (TASE: RPAC) and Triple M; and a consortium headed by Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT). It is not known who has joined Elbit, and it is currently bidding alone.
Tamares Telecom, Telecom Italia SpA (NYSE: TI; BIT: TIT), and smaller companies are also in the field, which will probably join one of the consortia.
Selection committee chairman Zvi Harpak said today that there was only just one week left to register for the selection process for the tender. Tuesday, January 31, is the deadline for registration the deadline for submitting queries for clarification to the committee, and for submitting the documents.
Over the past three months, several Israeli and foreign investor groups inquired about the process, and spoke with the selection committee and IEC representatives, who responded to their queries. Rothschild Bank is advising the selection process and potential investors.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 25, 2012
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