Yigal Arnon is a consistent performer among the Israeli firms, which is recognised in its almost perfect set of rankings. The firm has a strong name across the corporate arena, but especially in M&A work....
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Yigal Arnon is a consistent performer among the Israeli firms, which is recognised in its almost perfect set of rankings. The firm has a strong name across the corporate arena, but especially in M&A work. "They are considered one of the leaders in the field," says one rival lawyer. The firm's 35 lawyer corporate practice is not for show, it reflects the substantial portfolio of international and domestic work it has on the table.
On the international side, joint practice head Barry Levenfeld has taken the lead on a large proportion of the transactions and is recognised for his extensive experience in cross border technology deals: "Barry is a high-tech venture capital lawyer and he's very good," says one peer. One of Levenfeld's highlights was acting for orthodontics manufacturer Align Technologies on its acquisition of Cadent, a digital scanning provider for orthodontics and dentistry, for $190 million. The deal was completed through a reverse merger, where Cadent became a wholly owned subsidiary of Align, in April 2011. IBM also called in Levenfeld on its acquisition of Storwize, a data compression technology provider, for $140 million in August 2010. Elsewhere on the buy side Levenfeld is acting for French company Essilor International on the acquisition of 50% of Shamir Optical Industry from the public and Kibbutz Shamir. The deal was signed in October 2010 but is yet to close.
Domestically the M&A team has also been active, advising the Israel Infrastructure Fund in its acquisition of interests in Derech Eretz Highways, the concessionaire for a highway project in the country. The firm's other joint practice head David Shapiro closed the deal for $167 million in December 2010. In the firm's largest deal, locally or abroad, the team represented the holders of 71% of the shares in British Israel Investments, a real estate company, in the sale of their shares to Melisron a similar organisation. The $474 million deal closed in April 2011.
Despite capital markets representing one of the firm's weaker areas, it still secures roles on some significant mandates and competitors stress that practice co-head Gil Orr is a reliable and experienced lawyer. On the equity side, Levenfeld advised the US underwriters in the $100 million IPO of SodaStream International and the subsequent $261 million capital increase, which closed in November 2010 and April 2011, respectively. In debt work, Shapiro acted for Tower Semiconductor on its bond issuances of $102 million which were completed in October 2010.
Promoted to the second tier in 2010, the firm's banking offering has solidified its position with a string of noteworthy deals. The firm represented Barclays and HSBC in a $430 million bridge financing to the Tamar gas field partnership, Delek. In acquisition finance work, the firm advised the Azrieli Group on the securing $130 million for the purchase of the Galleria Mall complex in Texas through JPMorgan in February 2011.
Several competitors question the firm's project finance ranking on the basis of perceived decline in market presence. The firm have not been overawed with successful tenders but have been active for several unsuccessful bidders on deals, which might explain the loss in visibility.
Failed bids aside, joint practice head Doron Tamir is representing the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of National Infrastructure on three separate tenders valued at $1.25 billion; two for the implementation of solar power plants with a capacity of 220MW, and one tender for a photovoltaic power plant with a capacity of 15-30MW. Tamir has also been acting on the behalf of food and beverages group, Strauss in its plans for the construction of a wastewater treatment plant.
Clients have no qualms about the firm's credentials and consider Tamir a valuable asset to have on your side in a deal. "He's a great lawyer and a great person. He is very professional, very experienced and for me he is a big advantage in the projects," says one client. Another agrees: "He has a lot of general knowledge and a lot of experience he is also involved in energy projects when you look at everything he is a very good lawyer."
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