Israeli operator Partner Communications has ended its brand licensing agreement with Orange.
As per the terms of an agreement reached by the firms in June 2015, Orange stated that Partner “will be able to use its brand for its continuing investments in technological innovation in Israel” in the immediate future, although it will begin the process of finding a new brand.
Partner took the decision to terminate the longstanding licensing agreement between the companies following comments made by Orange CEO Stephane Richard, who stated that he would scrap the agreement “tomorrow morning” if the terms allowed it.
These remarks caused political outrage in Israel, forcing Richard to apologise for them and precipitating a revision to the agreement between Partner and Orange. The new terms allowed the Israeli operator to terminate the partnership within a year, while granting Orange the right to the same if Partner declined to do so within this period.
Since Partner has elected to terminate the contract within 2 years of the revision, the terms of the agreement may oblige Orange to pay Partner €50 million in addition to the €40 million that it is already paying as part of the deal. This has not been confirmed by Orange.
