Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) Chairman Adam Chesnoff has appeared at the Tel Aviv District Court for the hearing on Hot's content agreement with HBO and Partner's request to issue an injunction against this agreement. Chesnoff had claimed that Hot's offer is too high, that it does not match market prices and that Hot has hiked its prices intentionally to tackle Partner's effort.
Earlier during the hearing, the judge proposed that Partner retract its request without paying court expenses. An offer which Partner eventually agreed to. Adv. David Hodak represented Partner and Adv. Gil Orion represented Hot.
During the hearing, it became apparent that Hot had finalized the signing of a content agreement with HBO yesterday, as reported in "Globes". Hot and HBO had rushed to complete the signing of the contract before the hearing. The judge convinced Partner to retract its suit, claiming that this is a free market and a business issue.
In its lawsuit, Partner claimed that Hot has acted to sabotage its contract with HBO, a contract it had been negotiating for months, after Hot found out about it from an email sent by mistake from an office representing both companies.
During the discussion, Hot VP, Content and Regulation Yoram Mokady was questioned regarding the circumstances of Hot's talks with HBO. Mokady clarified that negotiations had been ongoing for years and that the signing of the agreement had nothing to do with Partner. Partner's attorneys have been trying to prove that Hot acted to sign the agreement with HBO only after details regarding negotiations with Partner had been leaked, a leak which caused Mokady to fly to New York for an urgent meeting. Mokady denied any connection between his trip and the email and said that the meeting has been scheduled long beforehand.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 12, 2016
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