The Second Authority will recomend the merger between "reshet" and "channel 10"

The Committee for the Reduction of Concentration recommended by the majority vote to the Second Authority to approve the merger between "Reshet" and "channel 10". The majority held that the transfer of the means of control in the existing circumstances was unavoidable and recommended to the Second Authority to set rules that would curb the influence of the interested parties in the commercial channels on the content transmitted by them.
According to the rules of the Second Authority, a licensee is currently required to appoint one independent director on the board of directors of up to 7 members, two on the board of directors of 8-12 members and an independent director for each additional four members. Most of the members of the committee recommended that the Second Authority amend the rules it set for broadcasting license holders, and determine that two additional directors on behalf of the Second Authority Council will serve on the board of commercial broadcasting license holders.
The committee qualified its remarks and clarified that if there is no legal way to amend the said rules, it is recommended that the appointments of the two additional directors be done in the manner prescribed in the current rules. That is, in the manner in which external directors are appointed in public companies.
Prof. Avi Simhon, chairman of the National Economic Council, disagreed with the position of most of the members of the committee and explained that the allocation should not be approved.
The committee's reasoning is expected to be published separately in the coming days. The committee is headed by Adv. Michal Halperin, Director of the Israel Antitrust Authority, and its members include Prof. Avi Simhon, Chairman of the National Economic Council and Mr. Shai Babad, Director-General of the Ministry of Finance.