Elovitch Expected to Cede Control of Bezeq

By Andrew Friedman/TPS

Businessman Shaul Elovitch, the majority owner of Israel’s telecommunications conglomerate Bezeq, will reportedly give up control of the company as part of negotiations to negotiate a NIS 1.2 billion debt owed by the Eurocom group, which is controlled by Elovitch and his brother, Yosef.

Earlier in July, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange suspended trading on Bezeq Israeli Telecommunications Corp Ltd (TASE: BEZQ) shares after the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) said it would a expand a corruption investigation to include a deal between satellite operator Spacecom Satellite Communications and DBS Satellite Services (YES), a satellite television provider. Elovitch is the owner of all three companies.

When the investigation was announced Elovitch was banned in a court ruling from entering the offices of all companies in the Bezeq-Eurocom group and from contacting its directors.

Bezeq stock prices have plummeted since the announcement, falling from NIS 648 per share on June 19 to NIS 525 at the end of closing last Thursday.