Rodev’s preparation, expect from Gabay: what awaits the new owners in Partner

by time news

The entry of new controlling shareholders into Partner will only do the company good. It is possible to continue arguing from today to tomorrow about whether public companies without a controlling interest are better than companies with a controlling interest, but it seems that in Partner’s case, the company needs a permanent controlling shareholder who knows what he wants, and if he also understands media and business like Shlomo Rodev And Avi Gabay, whose area of ​​expertise is communication – so the priority is clear.

Rodev went around considering buying Hutchison shares in Partner for several months, until he finally formed a group of investors and informed Hutchison that he was willing to buy the shares without due diligence. They will pay $ 300 million for 27.1% of the shares and gain control of the company.

The next step after Hutchison responded positively to their offer, is the trustee’s application for the shares to the court to obtain approval for the sale. It then moves on to the procedural level of approval from the Ministry of Communications and the Competition Authority. Due to the structure of the transaction and the Israeli identity of the investors, no problem is expected to be approved quickly.

Replacing the CEO would be an unnecessary shock

Partner is a public company whose activities are well-known, and in the communications market in Israel, where everyone knows everyone, there are not many secrets either. This reduces the risk that new buyers will miss something they did not know, and on the other hand it gives Hutchison a golden opportunity to get rid of the shares quickly and efficiently, which is good for both parties.

Partner, fortunately, is a company with low debt and is also an efficient company so it is likely that Rodev and Gabay will not find fats that can be cut. The big question is what they will do with cellular activity, of course, and to what extent they will want to continue to expand Partner’s fiber deployment, which has reached 800,000 households. Another question concerning the cellular is what they will do with the 012 Mobile brand, and whether they will continue to operate it as a low-cost brand or close down, it is difficult to know.

The question is of course regarding the company’s senior executives, headed by the chairman of the board, Osnat Ronen, and the CEO, Avi Zvi. If we start with Deer, who took office last June. If the new CEO leaves after such a short period, it will be a big problem. It will be another and unnecessary shock to the company that the appointment of a new CEO will be followed by the appointment of a new management, which has just started to crystallize, which is the last thing they need right now.

As for Ronen, the chairman of the board, contrary to estimates, it is not certain that Rodev and Gabay will want her to leave, and perhaps quite the opposite. Of course you should first ask her what she wants, but if she wants to continue, the two “R.

All companies play bunker

The big question is what will happen from now on in Partner, but also in Cellcom and the communications market in general next year. It is already clear that the uncertainty is only growing. The Ministry of Communications is very concerned about the fact that the cellular market continues to falter. The word shuffles a bit misleadingly because from the ministry’s point of view, what he is really worried about, and rightly so, is the fact that the concept of innovation has disappeared from the cellular companies in Israel. After years of abrasive competition that barely allowed them to make a profit, cellular companies actually do not know and doubt whether they are capable of producing new services and additional sources of income. Which CEO will take a risk to invest several tens of millions of shekels in a project with innovative technology when he knows that shareholders and investors are impatient and not willing to take risks. Everyone prefers to keep the existing one, They will know how to make the change or they will just know how to run the business better and bring a return on their investment, days will tell.

The fifth generation as it is reflected through the eyes of the cellular companies in Israel – but it must be honestly said that even in the world the situation is not much different – is that it is still a mystery. Aside from trying to raise a price through fifth generation packages, can anyone point to an engine of growth from it? Although we got higher speed in surfing in different coverage areas, but what next step.

The prevailing assumption is that the impact of the new technology will be mainly on the business market, which will know how to leverage the technologies of the new networks. What will make companies invest in new services? The Ministry of Communications believes that the good news will come through the entry of small new players or private cellular networks. In other words, if the port of Haifa takes a service company that receives frequencies for a high-speed cellular network from the Ministry of Communications and provides robotics services there, perhaps this is what will make companies come out of their stagnation and realize that the market is running away from them.

This is a significant step on the part of the ministry that could also cause damage to the cellular companies. Even without further competition, they are expected to go through a difficult year in worlds such as television, which is losing money, and the entry of new players, which will undermine the model of media groups.

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