Israel: Government officials oppose merger of Golan Telecom

The cellular telephone market, which has seen fierce competition and low prices in recent years, is now facing the prospect that Golan Telecom might seek to merge with a competitor.

Government officials who considered the prospect on Monday concluded that the government should oppose such a merger because it is liable to curb competition.

The meeting of officials from the finance and communications ministries came after Golan retained investment banks to explore a sale of the company to a competitor. “A Golan merger is not good for the market.

Communications Ministry director general Shlomo Filber, who attended the meeting, decided to inform Golan that the government would object to a merger.

Golan, which was founded by French-Israeli entrepreneur Michael Golan, played a key role in driving down cellular service rates in Israel when it entered the local market in 2012. Before the market was liberalized, it was dominated by Cellcom Israel, Partner Communications and Bezeq’s Pelephone brand.

Full content: Bloomberg

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