Israel’s Bezeq to buy local telecoms firm for $160 million

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By Steven Scheer

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Bezeq Israel Telecom said on Monday it had signed a non-binding deal to buy Exelera Telecom for $160 million.

Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecoms group, said that under the memorandum of understanding, it would buy Exelera from the Aluma Fund, which holds 82% of the company’s shares, and the rest from Ayalon Insurance and Finance.

The sellers may be entitled to additional consideration of up to $10 million, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions detailed in the MoU, Bezeq said.

Completion is subject to the signing of a definitive binding agreement 75 days from the date of the MoU, during which Bezeq will conduct due diligence. The deal also would require regulatory and other approvals.

Israel-based Exelera, formerly Tamares Telecom, provides telecoms services via an international telecommunications network based on a fiber-optic submarine cable, and operates a landing station in Israel.

Aluma CEO Yair Hirsh said the deal would represent a threefold return on its investment in Exelera.

Bezeq said it was currently evaluating a series of business initiatives in light of global trends indicating a dramatic increase in digital traffic volumes both into Israel and along the route between Europe and the Near and Far East.

It noted those developments are driven in part by the growing presence of major data and cloud players in Israel and the wider region.

“Bezeq will continue working to enhance the independence of Israel’s telecommunications infrastructure and deepen competition in the market.”

(Reporting by Steven Scheer. Editing by Jane Merriman)