Markets in Brief

Long-distance carrier Xfone is changing hands. Businessman David Sela has closed a deal to buy 69% of the niche phone company, which also operates in Britain and the United States. He's paying $6.9 million for the shares. Xfone began operating in 2004, offering low-cost long-distance communications. Over the years it expanded and in 2008 announced the start of Internet and wireline phone service. (Amitai Ziv)

The electro-mechanics division of AFCON Industries Group has received a NIS 43 million order from an unnamed financial institution. The order is for electrical and plumbing systems and air conditioning. AFCON expects execution will take a couple of years. (Vadim Sviderski)

D. Medical Industries says its subsidiary Medx-Set has filed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its Lighy DD infusion sets. The company pointed out that the technology has received European Union approval. Medx is developing disposable products for use in diabetes-related pumps and sensors. (TheMarker)

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange suspended trading in Shtang yesterday after the repurchase of its outstanding shares from the public.

(TheMarker)

Bank Hapoalim has repeated a Sector Perform rating for Cellcom. The third quarter is the strongest for cellular service companies, says analyst David Levinson, thanks in part to summer tourism. And indeed, Cellcom did not disappoint. Operating profit reached new heights as the company cut costs and continued to sign up new customers. But Levinson's 12-month price target is NIS 130, representing a company valuation of NIS 12.9 billion, while Cellcom's share price in Tel Aviv yesterday mid-morning was NIS 120.40. (TheMarker)

Elran Investments has received notice from the third party that was mulling investment in DTH Television Group that it isn't mulling anymore: It isn't interested. Elran says it and DTH continue to seek investors for the Romanian television company. (TheMarker)

Clal Biotechnology Industries says the EMEA has approved subsidiary Andromeda Biotech's development plan ahead of registering DiaPep277, a treatment for type-1 diabetes. The plan includes conducting Phase III clinical trials on DiaPep277, a synthetic peptide of 24 amino acids from the sequence of the human heat shock protein 60. The company seeks to confirm the outcome of previous Phase III trials. The test will encompass 450 adults diagnosed with type-1 diabetes at 100 medical centers around the world and will last two years. The trial's primary end point is to preserve the ability of pancreatic cells to produce insulin. Andromeda expects the trial to start in the first half of 2010. (TheMarker)

Synel Industries announced the consummation of its acquisition of Anteco in exchange for an owners' loan amounting to NIS 2.1 million as well as a NIS 5 million unlimited bank guarantee. Anteco sells closed-circuit surveillance television systems. Synel has been integrating Anteco systems into its lines of access control and recording systems. (TheMarker)

Check Point Software Technologies founder Gil Shwed has registered to sell 400,000 Check Point shares worth about $13.3 million, going by their share price on Nasdaq. Shwed exercised warrants into 400,000 shares. From the start of 2009, Shwed, who also serves as Check Point's CEO and chairman, has exercised $52.4 million worth of warrants. (Nir Zalik)

Clal Finance analyst Tsahi Avraham upgraded defense systems maker Elbit Systems yesterday to Outperform, noting the consistent improvement in the company's margins and the profitability of its subsidiaries. His 12-month price target for the stock is $69. The company's backlog is its weakest point, says Avraham: At the third quarter's end, its backlog of orders stood at $5.008 billion, while at the end of the second quarter of 2008 it had been $5.05 billion. New orders in the third quarter were just $685 million and Elbit Systems hasn't mentioned any impressive orders yet in the fourth quarter, Avraham adds. (TheMarker)

UBS analyst Darren Shaw issued a gushing report on the Bezeq phone company and jacked up his earnings forecasts for 2010 by 15% as the firm rolls out its new-generation network and beefs up its profits from wireless communications. He also raised his earnings forecasts for 2011 by 27% and lifted his 12-month price target to NIS 12 from NIS 9. On top of the NIS 1.5 billion dividend following the deconsolidation with the Yes satellite television company (which Bezeq will be paying in May, Shaw notes), Shaw expects Bezeq to pay a special dividend by the fourth quarter of next year, following court approval for a reduction in share capital. He doesn't think Shaul Elovitch's takeover of Bezeq from the Saban-Apax-Arkin group will matter to the share price. (TheMarker)