Fortissimo, which took control of Cellcom in May 2024, is preparing for a possible future monetization of its investment and has hired Citi, and likely another investment bank, to find foreign investors for the telecom company’s shares. The fund, led by Yuval Cohen, says the goal is to broaden Cellcom’s exposure to international capital, while stressing that an actual sale is not currently on the table.
The strategy resembles the path taken by U.S. fund Searchlight at Bezeq, where it worked with foreign banks and a local representative, Tomer Raab-Dav, now Bezeq chairman, to market the stock to overseas investors before later reducing its controlling stake after regulatory approvals. Fortissimo believes a similar opening to foreign investors could be a preliminary step toward a later exit, and it is also seeking Communications Ministry approval to reduce the minimum shareholding required for control.
Fortissimo and its partners currently hold 33.1% of Cellcom, so they can sell about 7% now without losing control or needing special approval, as control today requires at least 26%. The company wants to lower that threshold further, eventually even below 5%, to give the controlling shareholder more flexibility. The effort may take months or more than a year, and the main challenge for Citi will be finding wealthy private investors and hedge funds, since global institutions prefer more liquid stocks than Cellcom and the controlling block is far smaller than Bezeq’s was.
Fortissimo bought 35% of Cellcom for 936 million shekels in May 2024 with institutional partners including Migdal, the National Insurance Institute and Mizrahi Tefahot. In July 2025 it sold 1.8% to Harel for 88 million shekels, lowering its stake to 33.1%, and in December Cellcom paid a 200 million shekel dividend, of which Fortissimo received about 66 million. The fund now says it has a cumulative profit of about 1.2 billion shekels, while Cellcom’s share price has risen about 130% since the takeover, even though it is still about 20% below its March peak. Cellcom CEO Eli Adadi has led a turnaround that lifted the company’s value about 150%, cut financial debt by roughly 1 billion shekels and improved earnings and cash flow, which Fortissimo said is why it is exploring broader investor exposure.
