Orange sign covered by Israeli flag
Photo: Reuters
Orange, Partner Communications sign deal to end brand agreement
French telecoms group agrees to pay Israeli company millions of euros if deal terminated within 24 months
French telecoms group Orange said Tuesday that it had signed a agreement with Partner Communications that gave both companies the right to terminate their Orange brand license agreement.
Orange said it had agreed to pay Partner 40 million euros ($44.7 million) while a market study is carried on Partner's position and an additional 50 million could be paid out should the agreement be terminated within 24 months.
Israel protested to France after Orange's Chief Executive Stephane Richard said earlier this month that he would terminate the licensing arrangement with the Israeli company "tomorrow morning" if the contracts allowed. Orange is 25 per cent owned by the French government.
Under the new deal, if Partner does not exercise its right to terminate the brand agreement within 12 months, either Partner or Orange could terminate it during the following 12 months, Orange said in a statement.
Orange Chief Executive Stephane Richard (Photo: AFP)
Orange said it had agreed to pay Partner 40 million euros ($44.7 million) while a market study is carried on Partner's position and an additional 50 million could be paid out should the agreement be terminated within 24 months.
The announcement comes two weeks after Richard told Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two weeks ago his company had no truck with a campaign to boycott the Jewish state, despite Israeli allegations.
"I regret, deeply, this controversy," Richard told Netanyahu in English in videotaped remarks distributed by the premier's office.
"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," he said, on the second day of a peacemaking visit to Israel.
A row erupted after remarks by Richard during a news conference in Cairo on June 3 in which he said the firm was planning to withdraw its brand from Israel at the earliest possible opportunity.
Israeli flag covering Orange logo during controversy (Photo: Ido Erez)
Orange licenses its name and logo for use by Partner under an agreement that was due to run until 2025.
Israel reacted furiously to Richard's comments, accusing him of bowing to a Palestinian-led boycott campaign.
In statements at the start of his meeting with Richard, Netanyahu went straight on the offensive as the Orange boss stood at his side.
"It's no secret that the remarks you made last week were widely seen as an attack on Israel," he said
"We seek a genuine and secure peace with our Palestinian neighbours but that can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions, it will not be achieved through boycotts and through threats of boycotts."
Richard also met with former Israeli President Shimon Peres Friday who told him that "boycotts burn and destroy bridges of peace rather than fight and offer tolerance," adding that "It is very important that your company will say loud and clear that it opposes boycotts, as they endanger the possibility of tolerance and peace."
The Orange chief flew into Israel on Thursday for a two-day visit in a bid to soothe Israeli anger.
Richard's Cairo comments were interpreted in Israel as a response to a report by a group of NGOs which accused Orange of indirectly supporting settlement activity through its agreement with Partner.
