Swarth Group is a private equity

Private equity

Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....

 company, owned by Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i investor Shaul Shani. In 2007, it purchased Israeli ECI Telecom

ECI Telecom

ECI Telecom Ltd is a global telecom networking infrastructure provider headquartered in Petah Tikva, Israel. It provides communications platforms and solutions to carriers and service providers, cable/multiple system operators, wireless/cellular service providers, utilities and carrier of carriers,...

 for $ 1.24 billion. The company headquarters are in Petah Tikva

Petah Tikva

Petah Tikva known as Em HaMoshavot , is a city in the Center District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv.According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, at the end of 2009, the city's population stood at 209,600. The population density is approximately...

, Israel. The company specialises in Telecoms. In 2008, it acquired a 16.44% share of GVT Holding, which owns GVT Holland

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, and itself owns 22.9% of Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian telecom firm Global Village Telecom

Global Village Telecom

Global Village Telecom is a Brazilian telecomunications company that offers advanced services on fixed phone, broadband for both consumer and business and VoIP...

. The stake was purchased from Nochi Dankner's Discount Investment Corporation Ltd.

Discount Investment Corporation Ltd.

Discount Investment Corporation Ltd. is a holding company based in Israel. The company is listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the TA-25 Index. The company’s is controlled by IDB Holding Corporation Ltd...

. In 2009 Swarth group sold its holding in GVT to Vivendi

Vivendi

Vivendi SA is a French international media conglomerate with activities in music, television and film, publishing, telecommunications, the Internet, and video games. It is headquartered in Paris.- History :...

the deal reflects a 15.8% premium on the price paid for it by Swarth in 2008.