Eight separate bidders are believed to be preparing offers for 30% of Bezeq, Israel's dominant telephone operator, being sold by Merrill Lynch for the Israeli government. Each bidder will have to pay a non-returnable deposit of 10 million Israeli shekels (€1.8m.)

The eight are: Apax Partners and Saban Capital, two foreign equity firms; the Maariv Newspaper Holding Group, owner of Israel's Maariv newspaper; David Azrieli, a prominent Israeli businessman and four Israeli investment firms: IDB Holding, Whitepoint Communication Holdings Polar Investments and Markstone Capital Group. according to reports from Dow Jones quoting a statement issued by the Israeli Ministry of Finance.