The Cellcom workers’ committee, headed by Mia Yaniv, sought to declare a labor dispute in the entire group, following fears of a move in which the company would sell its antennas. In recent years, Cellcom, like the large cellular companies, has received inquiries from entities that offer the company to buy the sites from it and rent them out again.
It is basically a financial deal designed to allow Cellcom to reduce its debt because it may receive hundreds of millions of dollars for the network, but on the other hand it registers a long-term commitment to continue renting the sites from the acquiring company. Such deals have been offered to Cellcom several times in the past year, also by the Aluma Fund headed by Uri Yogev and were rejected not because of the committee’s opposition but because the company’s management came to the conclusion that this was a deal that was not economically viable.
The competing companies also have strong opposition to the model of selling the mobile sites, which is another reason why such transactions in Israel have not been successful so far and it is doubtful whether they will be successful in the near future.
On the other hand, it should be emphasized that the sale of antennas is common in the world and many companies do not own the sites but rent the real estate on which they are located. And site operation, etc.
The company’s committee now fears that the new management is trying to renew a deal in this direction, against the background of the difficulties of Cellcom’s controlling shareholders in other deals.
“A move that will lead us to insolvency”
The chairman of the committee, Mia Yaniv, hurried this morning to announce that this is the “end of Cellcom; A move that harms the livelihoods of thousands of families, harms national infrastructure and will lead us to insolvency. “
Following the announcements, Mia Yaniv, Chairman of the Cellcom Group’s Committee, addressed a letter to the company’s employees in which she referred to the transaction in question and wrote: “I explained to the company’s CEO that such a move means the end of Cellcom. Short-term value to serve the personal interests of the company’s owners who are not interested in continuing to hold it at all. .
Yaniv added that “it is very sad that once again the workers’ committee is the only responsible adult who thinks in long-term terms and again makes sure that they do not interfere with critical national infrastructure for the citizens of Israel and the direct livelihoods of thousands of families and tens of thousands of people.”