Discount Investment in talks to sell Cellcom

Holding company Discount Investment Corporation Ltd. (TASE:DISI) has notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that it is holding talks to sell the controlling core in Israeli telecom company Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL).

Discount Investment, which is led by Zahi Nahmias through Mega Or Holdings (TASE: MGOR) and by Michael and Daniel Salkind’s Elco (TASE: ELCO), wrote that the talks are, “Only in a preliminary stage and the terms of the deal, including the payment and structure, have not yet been agreed, and there is no certainty that the negotiations will lead to the completion of the deal.”

As part of the move, Discount Investment has announced the cancellation of an exchange purchase it had planned to carry out in its bond series. At the beginning of the month, Discount Investment announced that it is considering issuing a new series of bonds (12th Series) as part of an exchange purchase offer designed to extend the average life of the debt and improve cash flow over the next two years.

For the benefit of the holders of the new bonds, The company was supposed to pledge shares of telecom company Cellcom as surety for the new bonds in order to enable Discount Investment to recycle debt, since its existing bonds trade at a double-digit yields that reflects a high debt risk.

Discount Investment holds a 36% stake worth NIS 680 million in Cellcom.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 28, 2023.

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