Approved: the sale of Partner from the Chinese Hutchison to the group of buyers headed by Avi Gabay

Judge Hannah Fliner of the Tel Aviv District Court approved the sale of control of Partner - from the Chinese Hutchison to the group of buyers headed by Avi Gabay, Shlomo Rodev and the Phoenix - for $ 300 million.
The group of buyers - called Fabus Holdings, which also includes Menora and Clal Insurance, submitted the offer only three weeks ago. The group is led by Phoenix, which will be the largest investor in the deal. From the moment the transaction is approved by the court - the receiver of the shares, Adv. Ehud Sol, receives permission to sign the transaction with the purchasing group. At this stage, the purchasing group has 120 days - about four months, to complete the transaction.
The judge wrote in the decision: "After reviewing the parties' arguments, I heard the completion of the argument in yesterday's hearing and reviewed judgments to which the parties referred, after Saban clarified that she did not intend to give any guarantee and that she did not want to redeem the property.
Judge Flainer further added in the decision that the receiver acted correctly in the process of selling Partner shares - contrary to the claims of the Saban Group that it did not update it on what was happening and that it did not try to find any more buyers. “The receiver is not required to act in the form of a tender, there is nothing wrong with the way he has taken, and conducted individual negotiations with potential bidders. The bidder (Phoenix-Gabay-Rodev Group) is not the first with whom the receiver negotiated and his actions were reported to the court.
The group will now turn to the regulators - the Competition Authority and the Ministry of Communications for approval - to complete the deal. Approval from the competition authority is the simple part and should not be an obstacle.
But since the field of communications is a sensitive issue - the approval of the Ministry of Communications is the more complex part as it represents other entities that need to examine the deal (eg the GSS). Give approval for the transaction.
The deal has caused a great deal of controversy in recent weeks - the biggest opponent of the deal is Haim Saban, to whom the controlling shares in Partner belonged and coming out of the investment in the company with a loss of about $ 150 million. The question now is whether the Saban group will appeal the court's decision. According to the hearing held this week, there is a slim chance that the Saban group will be undermined. Filing an appeal means providing a guarantee for any delay in the transaction that could cause damage. Yesterday, the Saban group responded to Judge Flainer that it would not provide guarantees for the damage that would be caused to Hutchison in the event that the Phoenix-Gabay-Rodev proposal falls, so it is hard to believe that she will now agree.
This week, a heated hearing was held before Judge Flainer - in which Sol and representatives of the Saban group exchanged accusations about the conduct of the deal. Saban claimed that Sol did not make efforts to find the best buyer who would also offer a higher return for Partner, while the receiver claimed that Saban knew about the entire investor locator process and was even involved in it. Official receiver Sigal Yaakov also filed an objection to the deal with the court, claiming that Partner should have been put out to public tender to locate additional buyers.
Saban relinquished control of the company in 2019 after announcing that he would not meet the repayment of the loan granted to him by Hutchison. Following the waiver, the court appointed Sol - who will find a buyer for the shares. Saban acquired control of Partner in 2013 from Skylex of businessman Ilan Ben-Dov for NIS 1.5 billion. For the purpose of financing the transaction, Saban took out a seller loan that included a debt of $ 300 million.