The agreement is signed: Cellcom has completed the acquisition from Electra Consumer • The merged company's revenues will be about 4.2 billion - which will make it the second largest communications company in terms of revenue
Photo: Avishag Shear Yashuv
Following the approval given for the transaction by the Ministry of Communications, the Cellcom Group today (Wednesday) completed the acquisition of Golan Telecom from Electra Consumer. Following the merger, Cellcom will become the largest communications group in Israel in the cellular field, and the second largest in terms of revenue.
According to the financial statements for 2019, Cellcom and Golan Telecom's revenues stand at NIS 4.2 billion. This is compared to Hot - NIS 3.8 billion and Partner - NIS 3.2 billion. Golan Telecom states that the company will continue to operate as an independent and competitive entity and that there will be no changes in the packages and package prices of its customers.
In addition, the company is expected to start marketing fifth-generation (5G) packages in the near future. Golan Telecom's CFO, Shai Amsalem, will serve as the company's CEO. "I am pleased that Golan Telecom has joined the Cellcom Group today," said Cellcom CEO Avi Gabay, thanking Communications Minister Yoaz Handel and the ministry's staff for approving the deal.
Golan is an excellent company and will continue to operate independently. The company's customers will continue to enjoy mobile packages at attractive prices and there will be no changes in Golan's customer packages. Completing this acquisition will allow us to accelerate synergies between companies and shareholders While giving priority to the periphery also in the deployment of a fifth generation network, "Gabay added.
Since 2017, Golan has been in a network sharing agreement with Cellcom, so the merger does not reduce the number of chains operating in Israel. About two weeks ago, the Ministry of Communications said that they believe that the move will not harm the level of competitiveness in the communications market and will continue to act in order to maintain a balanced "playground" that allows fair competition between the various players in the market.