Cellcom awards new CEO Eli Adadi NIS 3.2m pay package

Eli Adadi  credit: Rami Zarnegar
Eli Adadi credit: Rami Zarnegar

Adadi replaces Daniel Sapir, who was removed as CEO by private equity firm Fortissimo last week.

Incoming Cellcom (TASE: CEL) CEO Eli Adadi will receive annual compensation costing NIS 3.2 million, according to a notice of a shareholders’ meeting to approve Adadi’s terms of employment, to be held on September 22. Adadi’s compensation will consist of a salary and benefits amounting to NIS 1.6 million, a bonus of NIS 675,000, and NIS 919 million in stock based compensation.

Altogether, Adadi will receive NIS 3.7 million in stock based compensation spread over four years, in the form of options.

Adadi was formerly CEO of Cellcom subsidiary Dynamica Communications Chain Stores and VP Retail at Cellcom itself. He holds first and second degrees in business administration. In 2023, his compensation cost was NIS 3.2 million, consisting of NIS 1.3 million salary, NIS 1 million in stock-based compensation, and the rest a bonus. He was the second-highest earning executive at Cellcom last year, after outgoing CEO Daniel Sapir, whose salary cost was NIS 5.1 million.

Sapir was removed as CEO last week by private equity firm Fortissimo, which completed its takeover of Cellcom three months ago. As part of the deal whereby Fortissimo acquired control of Cellcom, Adadi was entitled to a payment of NIS 571,000 against a commitment to remain in his post for three years. Fortissimo paid NIS 925 million to buy 36% of Cellcom from Discount Investment, valuing the company at NIS 2.6 billion, which compares with a current market cap of NIS 2.5 billion.

Only two months ago, Sapir received a NIS 1 million one-time bonus "for his large and exceptional contribution to the success of the deal," and Cellcom spoke of the importance of "management continuity." Sapir replaced Avi Gabbay in 2022, after the latter left Cellcom to lead a group of investors to take over rival telecommunications company Partner.

In the first half of this year, Cellcom’s revenue grew by 4% in comparison with the first half of 2023, to NIS 2.23 billion, and its net profit grew by 30% to NIS 62 million, the growth being partly due to the fact that the company made a large provision for legal costs in the corresponding period. ARPU (average monthly revenue per user) was NIS 37.6 in the second quarter of this year, up from NIS 35.3 in the first quarter, but lower than the NIS 38.2 recorded in the second quarter of 2023.

Eli Adadi  credit: Rami Zarnegar
Eli Adadi credit: Rami Zarnegar
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