B Communications (TASE: BCOM), the controlling shareholder in Bezeq Israel Telecommunications Company Ltd. (TASE:BZEQ has begun selling most of its shares in the company for an estimated $650 million (NIS 2.12 billion). This comes after approval was received last week for Bezeq to become a company without a controlling core.
As part of the move, which is being led by foreign investment banks Citibank and Jefferies, shares of Bezeq’s controlling shareholders, the Searchlight Fund and businessman David Fuhrer, are currently being distributed. Sources close to the deal say that the shares are receiving strong demand from global investors, who have also been joined by local entities that have expressed interest in the telecom company’s shares.
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The sale of shares comes after a long period in which Searchlight and Fuhrer sought to obtain a permit from the state, which would allow them to drop below a 15% holding, and leave Bezeq as a company without a controlling core. This comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week granted final approval to the controlling shareholders.
Control of B Communications (and through it, Bezeq) was acquired by the Searchlight Fund and David Fuhrer in 2019 as part of Shaul Elovitch’s debt settlement. At the time, they invested NIS 630 million to purchase the controlling shares in B Communications (52%) from Internet Gold, as well as an allocation of additional shares. Today, the Searchlight Fund holds 67% and the Fuhrer family holds 12.7% of B Communications shares, which are traded at a market cap of NIS 2.5 billion, so they are making a profit on paper of more than 2.5 times their investment.
Over the past year B Communications, which had held a 27% stake in Bezeq, sold part of its stake (about 11% of Bezeq’s shares), in two tranches for nearly NIS 2 billion. Before the latest sale, B Communications held a 16% stake in Bezeq worth NIS 3 billion.
Those who may profit from the move are Bezeq’s 5,500 employees, who signed an amendment to the collective agreement two years ago that stipulates that in the event of a change of control, the company’s employees will receive a grant of NIS 75 million.
The Bezeq Group includes the companies Bezeq (landlines), Pelephone (mobile phones), Bezeq International (ISP and international calls) and Yes (satellite television).
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 18, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
