The deal whereby cable television company Tevel, owned by Discount Investments, PEC, and TCI, buys Gvanim, was finally closed last Thursday. The owners of Gvanim - Monitin Publishing, Telrad Holdings, and Cable Com of Switzerland - sold their shares to US company Cable Tech for $235 million, which in turn sold them to Tevel for the same amount.
Koor Industries, which owns Telrad Holdings, today reported to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange the sale of its share in Gvanim for $71.2 million, net of sale expenses. Koor estimates its capital gain as a result of the sale at $35 million.
Tevel has signed an agreement to sell 32.3% of the shares in Monitin to Fishman Family Properties for $45 million. These are shares Tevel purchased from Marcus Katz. Execution of the sale to Fishman Properties is conditional upon approval being obtained from the Restraint of Trade Commissioner, but he is not expected to object to the deal.
In accordance with the terms of the approval granted by the Cable Television Broadcasting Board for Tevel to acquire Gvanim, Gvanim will continue to exist as a separate company and owner of a separate franchise, while preserving the rights of its subscribers and the present level of service to them, including service prices and maintenance of a customer help-desk.
Gvanim holds the franchise to operate cable television networks in Rishon Letzion, Ramla, Lod, the Modi’in area, and the Krayot in the north. It serves some 141,400 subscribers. Tevel operates cable television in Tel Aviv, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and the Jezreel Valley, and serves some 240,000 customers.
Following this deal, and the acquisition of Idan by Golden Channels and Fishman Properties, three cable television companies now operate in Israel. Golden Channels (including Idan) is the largest of the companies, with 410,000 subscribers; Tevel (including Gvanim) is second in size, with 381,000 subscribers; and Matav is third, with 262,000 subscribers.
Eliezer Fishman is a party at interest in "Globes".
Published by Israel's Business Arena on April 26, 1998