Israeli affiliate to stop using Orange name in 24 months under new deal
Published June 30, 2015
JERUSALEM (JTA) — French telecommunications giant Orange has signed an agreement with its Israeli affiliate that will allow the termination of their brand license agreement within two years.
The framework agreement announced by Orange on Tuesday comes less than a month after Orange CEO Stephan Richard said during a news conference in Cairo that Orange would abandon Israeli affiliate Partner “tomorrow morning” if not for contractual penalties, raising questions about a company boycott of Israel.
Under the new agreement, Orange will pay Partner up to nearly $110 million when the brand license agreement is terminated in up to 24 months. Much of that reportedly will go to rebranding Partner’s telecommunications services in Israel.
The two companies will launch a detailed market study to assess Partner’s position within the dynamics of the Israeli telecommunications services marketplace, according to Orange.
Partner had previously been expected to operate under the Orange name under a new ten-year agreement that was to expire in 2025. Orange is 25 percent owned by the French government.
“The Israeli telecommunications market study should provide a clear view to determine the best option for Partner, and we are committed to support this objective. For Orange, Israel is a strategically important country and we have a long term commitment to it, including our innovation activities through the Orange affiliates in Israel,” Orange’s Deputy CEO Pierre Louette, said in the statement. He said the new agreement came after “productive discussions over the past weeks.”
The announcement of the new agreement comes two weeks after Richard, in a meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I want to make it totally clear that Orange as a company has never supported and will never support any kind of boycott against Israel.”
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