Banking
Capital markets
Mergers and acquisitions
Project finance
Israel could teach the world some lessons on how to avoid a recession. Annual economic growth was at 3.3% in the second quarter of 2011, inflation was down 3.5% on the same period a year earlier and the unemployment rate was at 6%. These are statistics most governments would envy and come courtesy of a stringent fiscal policy.
The capital markets however have been inconsistent. A vibrant 2010, which saw companies raise $1.9 billion in equity capital in the first half of the year, a welcome increase on $1.7 billion raised in all of 2009, has tailed off in line with diminishing confidence in global markets. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange may have seen its largest IPO ever in the Azrieli Group's $525 million offering but activity has receded after interest from investors was sluggish and projected valuations did not materialise. "Last year we had quite a bit of IPO activity. From the first quarter of 2011 until today we saw a slowdown in the market when it comes to IPOs," says one lawyer.
Raising capital by issuing straight bonds or debentures has long been the preferred option in Israel and the domestic market has been open for companies in need of funds. "It looks like nothing happened. The number of public offerings, especially of bonds, has grown. At the beginning of 2011 approximately six billion shekels was raised from the public, the amount offered was bigger than the amount in the same time in 2007," says one capital markets lawyer.
New bond work has not, however, provided the most consistent form of mandates on the debt side and numerous prior issuances have needed restructuring.
A decelerator for the bond markets has been new regulations implemented by the Ministry of Finance. Amid criticism that the rules for institutional investors were lax, the Government tasked a committee, headed by David Hodak, name partner at Gross Kleinhendler Hodak Halevy Greenberg & Co, with creating rules for the investment banks. The Hodak Committee's findings, presented in February 2010, recommended limitations and conditions for institutional bodies investing in publicly traded bonds. As one lawyer explains: "What the regulator did was say to these pension fund managers you need to be as scrupulous as if it was your own money. It's meant an end to free and easy money to the corporate bond issuers. There's been a very serious changes in the mood of the market."
Lawyers have also been aiding banks with the implementation of Basel III but also note an increase in lending activity from the domestic banks and state that, increasingly, when approached by more established borrowers, international institutions are vying for the same business as the Israeli banks. "Two of the world's biggest banks are about to greatly increase their level of activity in Israel. They want to be a lot more high profile in the Israeli market place," says one banking partner.
Interest from multinational financial corporations has been further stimulated by the government. In a bid to improve the IT infrastructure within the country's financial sector it announced a Competitive Advantage Program, which provides incentives for the establishment of financial research and development centres by foreign institutions. Barclays and Citi have already taken up the offer and announced plans to commence building.
M&A activity continued its steep incline in the latter half of 2011, as one lawyer remarked: "I would say it's been the most active area of the economy over that period. We're seeing good interest from overseas acquirers, which is always a key business for Israelis."
The ever-buoyant technology sector is still the backbone of most corporate practises and IBM and Facebook have both purchased Israeli companies in the past 12 months. Lawyers say activity in this sector is being stimulated by the need for liquidity or the desire to diversify. "US capital markets are not quite open for Israeli companies right now and as result technology companies which always look to the US as a possible exit are having to look at other ways of raising capital or developing their business," says one lawyer.
Financial services has been the other hot area in Israel. With domestic institutions proving robust in the crisis, foreign hedge funds are showing an interest, as one lawyer says: "It's mainly hedge funds looking at Israeli financial services. It's mostly driven out of Europe but sometimes it's US finds with offices in London."
Energy has dominated the project finance sector in Israel, as one lawyer says: "Oil and gas, private power and renewable energy have been three major areas of activity."
The Israeli government has been the principle driver behind activity. With its push towards becoming 10% reliant on renewable energy by 2020 it introduced a feed-in tariff, which has encouraged developers. Several solar energy projects achieved financial close in the south of the country and lawyers consider this a growth area: "Probably the hottest item right now is solar energy," says one, adding: "The government of Israel has made a decision that there will be between three and four thousand megawatt of alternative energy projects, most of them will be photovoltaic, some of them will thermo-solar or concentrated solar power."
The government's plans for self-sufficiency were given renewed impetus by the ousting of Egypt's president in 2011. Oil shortages and price hikes followed and in April 2011 the pipeline that supplies gas to Israel was sabotaged. With Egypt currently supplying approximately 40% of Israel's gas, it caused serious concerns about the future.
Discoveries of natural gas in offshore Israel have provided some solace and offer hope for the country achieving a degree of energy independence and even becoming a distributor. These finds have also stimulated the project finance market and drilling has commenced in the Tamar gas fields after Isramco secured $750 million in financing. It is anticipated that they will be able to produce gas by 2012. Israel's largest discovery the Levantine field was made in June 2010 and it is thought it could meet the country's energy needs for 100 years.
On the infrastructure side, a relief for the population of Tel Aviv came in August 2011 when the Jerusalem Light Railway finally opened its doors for business after a decade of delays.
Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co
Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co's capital markets practice receives plaudits from peers for advancing and gaining market share. "If I had to take my hat off to anyone its Fischer....
[more]
Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co's capital markets practice receives plaudits from peers for advancing and gaining market share. "If I had to take my hat off to anyone its Fischer. They've grown their practice both in terms of cross-border underwritings as well as internal," observes one peer, adding: "They are a firm that is moving up. They are someone to be reckoned with."
Debt work has occupied the capital markets team and on it's largest transaction the firm represented Bezeq in the issuance of a series of debentures valued at $753 million. The team also advised Clalbit, an insurance group, in the issuance of NIS400 million ($111.5 million) of debt to institutional investors.
On the M&A side, the firm has been active in the technology sector and represented Netvision, an Israeli internet provider, on it's $419 million merger with Cellcom. The firm also advised the Fishman Group on the sale of half of its holdings in Hot Cable, one of Israel's cable communication companies, for $70 million.
In banking work the firm has been active for the government advising on the continuing privatisation of Bank Leumi, which included a sale of a 5% share in the bank to UBS in January 2011 for $400 million.
The firm's project finance practice, headed by Gilad Winkler represented a consortium comprising Danya Cebus, an Israeli construction company and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation in a tender for the construction of railway tunnels in the rail line to the northern city of Carmel. On the renewable side the firm advised Abengoa Solarin, a tender for BOT (build-operate-transfer) projects of two solar plants.
[hide]
Gilead Sher & Co
Gilead Sher & Co was founded as Aaronsohn Sher Aboulafia Amoday & Co in 1989 by it’s eponymous name partner Gilead Sher who was chief of staff and policy coordinator to Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
The original firm split in July 2010 into Gilead Sher & Co and Aaronsohn Aboulafia & Co....
[more]
Gilead Sher & Co was founded as Aaronsohn Sher Aboulafia Amoday & Co in 1989 by it’s eponymous name partner Gilead Sher who was chief of staff and policy coordinator to Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
The original firm split in July 2010 into Gilead Sher & Co and Aaronsohn Aboulafia & Co.
On the corporate side, the firm represented an Israeli High-tech company in its acquisition by a US corporation for the amount of $10 million in July 2010.
The firm has also been active in project finance sphere, assisting several companies in establishing joint ventures to tender bids. Yariv Kesner advised Inbar Solar Energy on establishing $60 million a joint venture with Ergasol for the formation of solar plants in September 2010. Whilst practise head Amir Kadari assisted G4S on setting up a joint company with Shikun Ubinuy to bid for the $440 million BOT (build-operate-transfer) for a new Police training headquarters. The group was awarded the tender in January 2011.
[hide]
Goldfarb Seligman & Co
Stealing the headlines with its July 2011 merger with litigation specialist M Seligman & Co, the newly christened Goldfarb Seligman & Co is now the largest law firm in Israel, exceeding it's antecedent, Herzog Fox & Neeman, in numbers of fee earners. Although the move will not have a huge impact on the firm's corporate or financial practices, apart from in respect of additional lawyers, it is seen as an astute one that will expand the firm's capabilities....
[more]
Stealing the headlines with its July 2011 merger with litigation specialist M Seligman & Co, the newly christened Goldfarb Seligman & Co is now the largest law firm in Israel, exceeding it's antecedent, Herzog Fox & Neeman, in numbers of fee earners. Although the move will not have a huge impact on the firm's corporate or financial practices, apart from in respect of additional lawyers, it is seen as an astute one that will expand the firm's capabilities. "It's really going to assist them on the litigation front. Seligman is a very good litigation firm, I think it's a wonderful merger in terms of the logic because they were lacking skills in that area so I think it's a very smart move."
For peers, Ashok Chandrasekhar is the outstanding lawyer at the firm. "Ashok is a strong player that we enjoy working with, and opposite to. He's in the top four we would point to in the country," is one M&A lawyer's response to a query over who the country's leading practitioners are. Another corporate lawyer concurs, explaining: "I like to work with Goldfarb, Ashok is a very good lawyer."
The corporate area is the firm's particular forte and it has secured plenty of mandates in the last 12 months. The firm has demonstrated its prowess in the ever popular Israeli technology sector acting on deals with several household names. It advised key client Google on the company's first acquisition in Israel when it purchased Mentorwave Technologies and similarly target company Snaptu,on its acquisition by Facebook.
Also on the sell side, the firm worked across from another major internet brand, provider AOL, which acquired the firm's client 5 Minute for $65 million.
Israeli corporate lawyers observe more interest from Asia in Israeli companies during the past 12 months and the firm's largest M&A transaction was advising Koor Industries on selling it's controlling interest in Makteshim Agan to the China National Chemical Company for $2.4 billion.
On the project finance side, partner Amit Krispin has had a hand in all the firm's recent work but his most substantial deal was advising on the $1.25 billion financing of Dorad energy's 840MW power plant. The partner has also been active for photovoltaic panel manufacturer Sunpower on achieving financing for three separate power plant projects.
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Ashok Chandrasekhar
Odet Eran
Gornitzky & Co
Market perception of Gornitsky & Co's chairman and leading lawyer Pinhas Rubin is that he is one of the country's outstanding lawyers: "Pinhas Rubin is excellent, he's probably the best lawyer in Israel," remarks one competitor. The firm are considered solid performers in all practice areas and have finalised a succession of mandates to support this....
[more]
Market perception of Gornitsky & Co's chairman and leading lawyer Pinhas Rubin is that he is one of the country's outstanding lawyers: "Pinhas Rubin is excellent, he's probably the best lawyer in Israel," remarks one competitor. The firm are considered solid performers in all practice areas and have finalised a succession of mandates to support this.
A highlight deal for Gornitsky's equity capital markets team came in 2010 when the firm acted on the largest IPO of an Israeli company on the Nasdaq that year. Chaim Friedland and Benjamin Waltuch represented SodaStream International on the deal, which had raised the company $125 million when it closed in November 2010.
In the largest IPO by a foreign company on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) in 2010, Sharon Werker-Sagy and Ari Fried acted for Elad Canada, the Ontario based subsidiary of Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva's, Elad group on its $75 million IPO.
On the debt side, Zvi Ephrat and Nurit Traurik represented the Israel Corporation in a public offering of more than $285 million of bonds in July 2010. Also, in the first private placement of debt securities on the Israeli institutional market since the new rules, Lior Porat and Meir Levin advised DBS Satellite Services, a private satellite television company, on two private placements of bonds which raised a combined $170 million.
Headed by senior partners Moriel Matalon and the market-recommended Jack Smith and Itay Geffen, the firm's project finance team are unanimously recognised as one of the leaders in the field in Israel and, true to it's reputation, the practise has been involved several of the country's most prominent deals.
Widely considered one of the originators of energy law in Israel, Smith is a client favourite. "I think he's the leader in Israel in terms of energy law, he was the first one here to deal with it. He is excellent; very professional, very experienced," says one.
Recent highlights saw the firm representing a consortium headed by Siemens, Shikun & Binui and Isulux in submitting a $558 million bid for the tender for the Israeli government's solar energy thermal power plant in February 2011. With a capacity of approximately 110MW, it will be the largest solar plant ever built in Israel and the first thermo-solar one. On another deal, Geffen led a team advising Policity, a company owned equally by Shikun & Binui and Binui & Hashmira, on its successful bid for the $500 million tender for the Israeli Police's new national training centre.
On a notable PFI (private finance iniative) project, the infrastructure group mandated the firm to advise on the bid and $195 million financing of a major road rehabilitation project in northern Israel, which closed in July 2010.
In January 2011, Smith and a team closed a deal for OPC Rotem and its sponsors, Israel Corporation and Dalkia Israel. The $558 million project financing for a 440MW private power plant in Israel was secured from a syndicate of banks and institutional lenders, led by Bank Leumi Le'Israel.
In the oil and gas sector Eyal Raz and Elite Elkon May-Tal assisted oil and gas exploration company Isramco Negev secure $750 million in financing in May 2011 for the development of the Tamar offshore gas field, the first greenfield gas discovery in Israel.
Zvi Ephrat, Chaim Friedland, Ari Fried and Tamar Cohen meanwhile were kept busy securing $900 million in debt facilities for the construction and operation of a new hydro-cracking plant for Oil Refineries. The financing consisted of $600 million in loan facilities from a consortium of Israeli financial institutions and $300 million through a US bank.
On the banking side, lead partner Rubin, advised Bank Hapoalim on the refinancing of Memorand and Leviev Groups $2 billion debt agreement, which closed at the end of 2010. Meanwhile, working in parallel with the firm's M&A team, Hagar Alon Windman and several other partners represented Melisron on the acquisition and financing of 70% of the capital stock of British-Israel Investments for approximately NIS1.7 billion ($471 million).
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Itay Geffen
Pinhas Rubin
Gross Kleinhendler Hodak Halevy Greenberg & Co
Gross Kleinhendler Hodak Halevy Greenberg & Co's capital markets practice is its strongest and attracts some of the most sought after mandates from businesses looking to raise funds. Clients consider the firm's preeminence in this field as its primary attraction....
[more]
Gross Kleinhendler Hodak Halevy Greenberg & Co's capital markets practice is its strongest and attracts some of the most sought after mandates from businesses looking to raise funds. Clients consider the firm's preeminence in this field as its primary attraction. "They are very good lawyers and experts in this area. Their instructions have a very strong standing in front of the authorities, which we like a lot," says one, who works closely with name partner and securities expert, David Hodak, the firm's head, and Aya Yoffe, who leads the capital markets practice. Another considers these lawyers particularly proficient in remaining agreeable and focused: "They are very nice but always still professional," says one.
In 2010, the firm represented the issuer on country's prize equity deal, the Azrieli Group's IPO. The $558 million listing, which was closed in May with Yoffe at the helm, was the largest ever listing on the Israeli stock exchnage.
On the debt side the firm advised on two bonds issues for Dexia Bank Israel of $159 million and $67 million, which closed in June and December 2010, respectively. The firm's corporate practice, consistently impresses. The firm has also advised on several shelf prospectuses acting for Elbit Defence Systems in May 2010 and Partner Communications in amendment in addition to notes which were issued on the TASE (Israeli stock exchange) in May 2011.The firm acted on a private placement of $125 million in notes and a $279 million debt offering for the latter client.
In the M&A field, the firm also has a fine team with a good depth of experience. Name partners David Hodak and Gene Kleinhendler are universally well respected while less established lawyer Heather Stone is praised for taking on the more cumbersome aspects of transactions: "There's a younger partner Heather Stone, who is the right hand man and does a lot of the heavy lifting on the deals," says one rival lawyer.
Managing partner and M&A practice head Richard Mann is another lawyer with a good reputation in the market. A headline deal for Mann saw him close the sale of 74% interest in Psagot Investment House for established client York Global to Apax Partners for $600 million in October.
A multibillion dollar deal saw Hodak act for Chemical China in the acquisition of a 60% interest in Makhteshim Agan, an Israeli manufacturer of agricultural chemicals, which closed at $2.4 billion in January 2011.
Banking practice head Ofer Hanoh has also finalised several mandates recently, assisting Polar Investment it's NIS100 million ($27 million) loan agreements secured through the Origo Fund. Hanoh has been advising long standing clients Fibi Bank (First International Bank of Israel) and Fibi Holdings, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank and Dexia Israel Bank on various ancillary issues over the last 12 months.
Elsewhere the firm was involved in a notable project finance deal, advising the Ministry of Finance on a tender for the establishment and operation of a public hospital in Ashdod. The successful bid for the $195 million contract was awarded in May 2011.
[hide]
Leading lawyers
David Hodak
Richard Mann
Herzog Fox & Neeman
The internationally renowned, Herzog Fox & Neeman is regarded, unequivocally, as an authority across all practice areas. Lawyers from each discipline point to the firm as the stalwart contender among the leading Israeli firms and in capital markets several query whether it belongs in a tier of its own....
[more]
The internationally renowned, Herzog Fox & Neeman is regarded, unequivocally, as an authority across all practice areas. Lawyers from each discipline point to the firm as the stalwart contender among the leading Israeli firms and in capital markets several query whether it belongs in a tier of its own. One rival definitely believes the firm is ahead of the others who share its ranking saying: "I certainly vote for Herzog Fox & Neeman, because they have experts like Ehud Sol and Ilanit Landesman [Yogev]. I think Herzog Fox is the first one," adding: "I have worked with Ilanit and she is a very good lawyer."
Head of the firm's capital markets practice, Landesman Yogev, has had a role in the country's most prominent deals. On the equity side she advised the Azrieli real estate group, on the largest IPO in the history of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange with a value of approximately $558 million when it closed in June 2010. The deal marked the end of a three-year drought for the Israeli primary market.
In December 2010, the team advised Apex Holdings, the Israeli investment house, in the filing of a shelf prospectus and $83 million public bond offering, the first under the new regulations. The firm also advised Makhteshim Agan Industries in a $300 million bond issuance and the Israel Postal Company on a $111 million issuance of notes, its first as a government owned company.
Although slightly diminished in the summer of 2010 by the departures of partners Michal Kamir and Menachem Neeman, who both moved in-house, the firm still has plenty of depth in the 25 lawyers in its corporate and capital markets group.
The firm's recent corporate clients exemplify its international focus. The team advised global private equity firm Apax partners on the purchase of York Fund's controlling 76% stake in Psagot Investment House, Israel's largest investment house for $753 million.
Partners Alon Sahar and Hanan Haviv also acted for Facebook on its purchase of Snaptu, an Israeli start-up that develops applications for mobile phones, for an undisclosed amount. This was only Facebook's second acquisition outside the US when it closed in March 2011.
Headed by Alan Sacs, the firm's banking practice includes Bank Hapoalim among it's key clients and has been kept busy assisting the bank in various matters. Sacks advised the bank on providing a $948 million financing for Hot-Telecommunication Systems in addition to a $10 million to Cool Holding, the parent company, in January 2011, the firm also negotiated on a deal for $75 million senior revolving facilities for Server Farm Realty to be used for the acquisition, renovation and leasing of real estate property in the US as data centres. The firm acted behalf of the Bank and coordinated local counsel in both the US and the UK.
Outside of transactional work, the firm has been advising Barclays Capital on setting up of an IT development and engineering centre in Israel and assisting Citibank, in conjunction with local cellular provider Cellcom Israel, in the establishment of a cellular phone based global remittance program.
The two joint heads of Herzog Fox & Neeman's project finance practice elicit equal praise from competitors who consider the pair among the leading figures in this area. One rival firm said he always deferred to their practice when conflicted on a deal.
Of the firm's most notable deals in these sectors, the firm advised the concessionaire on the trouble plagued Jerusalem Light Railway Project, which finally carried it's first passengers in August 2011. On the lenders side, the firm is involved in the financing of the Cross Israel Highway BOT (build-opearte-transfer) project, co-advising the senior lenders (both Israeli and Canadian) in connection with recent share sale transactions and mezzanine debt offerings. The firm's role in energy deals include advising lenders in connection with the financing of the Dorad Energy 850MW IPP (independent power production) project and also the banks, financing the Dalia Energy 850MW IPP project. Acting on the behalf of a consortium of companies, the firm is negotiating for the tenders of solar thermal and photovoltaic power plants at Ashalim issued by the State of Israel.
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Mark Phillips
Alan Sacks
Ehud Sol
Kantor Elhanani Tal & Co
Headed by the greatly respected and widely recommended Dalia Tal, Kantor Elhanani Tal & Co's banking practice has an excellent reputation. Of the practise head, one peer says: "Dalia Tal is an excellent banking lawyer....
[more]
Headed by the greatly respected and widely recommended Dalia Tal, Kantor Elhanani Tal & Co's banking practice has an excellent reputation. Of the practise head, one peer says: "Dalia Tal is an excellent banking lawyer. She's very much a domestic Israeli lawyer rather than international and has a very close relationship with the biggest banks."
It is not, however, Tal who has been active on finance transactions. Gal Feingold has led the firm on several prominent deals advising a consortium of Banks on extending an $223 million credit agreement to Psagot Provident Funds and Pension, and Psagot Mutual Funds in February 2011. Prior to this Gal advised a banking syndicate on providing $154 million in acquisition finance to private equity house Apax Partners for a controlling stake in Psagot Investments in October 2010.
Elsewhere on the banking side, Judith Gal negotiated on securing $139 million (NIS500 million) for the financing of a shopping mall development in Beer Sheva.
The firm's M&A group, also led by Tal, leverages off its leading banking practice for deals. In the largest transaction the team were involved in, Gal-Or represented the Bank Mizrahi Tefahot, as the secured creditor, to B-Capital 36 which sold its shares in Azorim to Adarim Star. The sale closed at $83 million in April 2011 and the bank was entitled to receive remunerations as a lender to B-Capital 36.
The firm's leading lawyer has been active on the corporate side for long standing client Bank Leumi. Tal advised on it's failed attempt to buy Mivtach Shamir holdings out of Tnuva, Israel's largest food conglomerate, and was also active for Leumi Partners, the private equity and venture capital arm of the bank, on it's purchase of 10% of Electra Consumer Products for $27 million in May 2010.
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Dalia Tal
Levy Meidan & Co
After a succession of positive recommendations from competitors and roles in all the country's headline deals, Levy Meidan are promoted to the top tier in project finance. "Levy Meidan do a large amount of work for the government and Noa Meidan in particular is very, very good and I would recommend her without hesitation," explains one lawyerThe state's firm of choice, Levy Meidan & Co has been active for its clients on a number of different projects with name partner Meidan at the helm....
[more]
After a succession of positive recommendations from competitors and roles in all the country's headline deals, Levy Meidan are promoted to the top tier in project finance. "Levy Meidan do a large amount of work for the government and Noa Meidan in particular is very, very good and I would recommend her without hesitation," explains one lawyer
The state's firm of choice, Levy Meidan & Co has been active for its clients on a number of different projects with name partner Meidan at the helm. One project was the $500 million Sorek Seawater Desalination Facility, which achieved financial close in April 2011. This will be the fourth such facility in the country and the firm has acted for the government on each of the deals. The firm also represented the National Roads Company, a state-owned venture, on engaging with a private sector concessionaire for the maintenance of roads in the northern part of Israel. The substantial $335 million modernisation project closed in June 2010.
The firm is experienced in all roles and Meidan led a team acting for two sponsor groups consisting of Israeli energy companies for the design, construction and maintenance of two pumped storage hydro electricity power plants with a capacity of 300MW and 200MW. The $500 million project, the first its kind in Israel, is expected to achieve financial close in September 2011.
In January 2011, Meidan and her team acted for Bank Lemui on providing the $400 million financing for the OPC 370MW power plant, which will be constructed in Mishor Rotem and will be one of the largest independent power plants in Israel when complete.
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Noa Meidan
M Firon & Co
Partner Tamar Firon-Smorodinsky heads the firm's project finance practice, its strongest area, and has led the team on most of it's significant work. Competitors observe the firm is present in the market on the behalf of construction companies and the practise head has advised several such entities, the Carmelton Group, which was awarded the tender for a BOT (build-operate-transfer) project to construct a railway tunnel in Carmel, in negotiating the financing with the Israel Discount Bank....
[more]
Partner Tamar Firon-Smorodinsky heads the firm's project finance practice, its strongest area, and has led the team on most of it's significant work. Competitors observe the firm is present in the market on the behalf of construction companies and the practise head has advised several such entities, the Carmelton Group, which was awarded the tender for a BOT (build-operate-transfer) project to construct a railway tunnel in Carmel, in negotiating the financing with the Israel Discount Bank. Also on the behalf of infrastructure group, Firon-Smorodinsky advised companies, Shikun & Binui and Electra on obtaining the finance for a PFI (private finance initiative) project for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a new court house complex in Tel Aviv.
On the corporate side, the firm has secured roles in a variety of sectors. In defence, joint practice head Jacob Enoch advised Elbit Systems, a multi-national defence electronics company, on the acquisition of defence group Mikal in two stages for $100 million. In a cross border technology deal the firm represented PerSay, a Delaware software company, in a reverse triangular merger Nuance Communications in November 2010.
In capital markets debt work, department head Udi Efron has advised on several bond offerings with the most significant a $92 million issue for Dan Vehicle and Transportation in April 2011. The firm also advises in equity work and acted on Galileo Satellite Navigation's IPO.
[hide]
Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein
Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein is renowned among clients and lawyers for its excellent corporate practice but the firm has been focussing on building up its financial offering and its efforts have not gone unnoticed. Several of the firm's peers recommended it in banking table and after accruing the deals to support these assertions, the practice joins the third tier in banking....
[more]
Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein is renowned among clients and lawyers for its excellent corporate practice but the firm has been focussing on building up its financial offering and its efforts have not gone unnoticed. Several of the firm's peers recommended it in banking table and after accruing the deals to support these assertions, the practice joins the third tier in banking. "I've done a lot of banking work with them recently and they certainly deserve a mention," says one banking lawyer.
Value wise, the banking team's largest transaction was an $865 million refinancing for Hot-Telecommunication Systems, in which Clifford Felig advised the syndicate of lending banks. Felig also advised Cool Holdings, a subsidiary of Altice Group, on securing financing through an Israeli bank.
Banking practice head, Shaul Hayoun, has been active for a significant client, Gazit Globe, the international real estate company, on two separate deals. In August 2010 he finalised a multinational credit facility in addition to a further $250 million from an Israeli bank in April 2011.
The market perception of Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein's M&A practice is consistently positive: "They are very strong," says one, while another insists "they are deserving of that ranking."
The high esteem with which the firm is regarded by competitors can be attributed to the number of impressive corporate partners it has. Two names which repeatedly arise amid discussions about the leading M&A lawyers in Israel are Dan Shamgar and Dan Geva. "I always enjoy doing work with Dan Geva and Dan Shamgar at Meitar," says one peer, while another states: "Dan Shamgar is a very strong candidate."
Geva is also singled out by one client for being professional and personable: "He is an excellent lawyer: very experienced; very business-orientated; very good soft skills as well. We're very happy with him we have known him for almost 15 years."
The firm has a solid history of representing both targets and acquirers, and this year has been no different. On the sell side, Liquornik represented Attenti Holdings, a technology manufacturer, and its shareholders when 3M acquired the company for $230 million. While Dan Shamgar acted for Wintegra which was acquired by PMC-Sierra for $300 million in November 2010. On the buy side, Geva closed a deal for Broadcom in its acquisition of Provigent for $335 million.
Meitar also boasts an established capital markets practice. One significant Israeli client said it only used the firm for its capital markets activities: "For public issues we have only used Noam Sharon and his team for the past three or four years. They are excellent." Of the firm's practice head Sharon, the client added: "[He is] fantastic, he's very knowledgeable and pleasant to work with. We have the highest regard for Mr Sharon and we certainly will continue to work with him when we need that kind of legal advice."
In a standout piece of debt work, Sharon was active for long standing client Bank Haploalim on several public offerings of subordinated notes, which closed in April 2011, valued at $3 billion. Sharon also assisted Hot Telecommunications on its debt offering of $418 million in March 2011.
One client also praised name partner Israel (Reli) Leshem, saying: "We use Reli Leshem on matters such as class actions or derivatives matters, Leshem is certainly a very good lawyer."
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Clifford Felig
Dan Geva
Dan Shamgar
Noam Sharon
Naschitz Brandes
Naschitz Brandes has a corporate focus and although competitors query if the firm has a presence on capital markets deals, the firm has been active on a number of crossborder transactions for Israeli companies on the Nasdaq. Peers have no reservations about Aaron Lampert, head of firm's capital markets group, and several lawyers consider him to be one of the country's leading figures....
[more]
Naschitz Brandes has a corporate focus and although competitors query if the firm has a presence on capital markets deals, the firm has been active on a number of crossborder transactions for Israeli companies on the Nasdaq. Peers have no reservations about Aaron Lampert, head of firm's capital markets group, and several lawyers consider him to be one of the country's leading figures.
In standout equity work, Sharon Amir, who one client calls "number one in the country for M&A," advised controlling stockholder in MediaMind Technologies, a digital advertising provider, which completed a $65 million IPO in August 2010. Elsewhere Lampert represented Nasdaq-listed AudioCodes in its $175 million primary universal shelf and secondary equity shelf.
The technology sector has proven an active one for Naschitz Brandes in M&A work and the firm were involved in three deals involving long time client Broadcom, a wireless internet provider. In November 2010, Amir, who heads the firm's M&A practice, advised the company in its $98 million acquisition of Parcello, a microchip developer, and Sightic Vista, a video solutions company. More recently the firm was on the opposite side of the deal and acted for Provigent, a leading provider of innovative chip solutions for broadband wireless, on its $340 million sale to Broadcom in March 2011.
In notable finance work, the firm has been active for several funds and advised a mezzanine fund in a $36 million financing transaction with Texas-based Alon Energy and also acted for KCPS Manof Funds in a series of convertible loans and investments in Israeli private and public companies in amounts ranging from $14 million to $33 million.
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Aaron Lampert
Other notable firms - Charcon & Co
Founded by Ilan Charcon in 1997, Charcon & Co specialises in advising on land related matters. A former counsel in the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s office, name partner Charcon currently serves as chairman of the Israel Bar Association’s Land, Real Estate and Contracts Committee....
[more]
Founded by Ilan Charcon in 1997, Charcon & Co specialises in advising on land related matters. A former counsel in the Tel Aviv District Attorney’s office, name partner Charcon currently serves as chairman of the Israel Bar Association’s Land, Real Estate and Contracts Committee.
In the past 12 months, Charcon has been advising the Israel National Roads company on the project to build an interchange in one of Israel’s central roads Morasha Interchange, expanding Route 66 and separating the roads and railway tracks on Israel’s roads.
The firm has also been active for the Ministry of Finance, advising on the tender for a BOT (build-operate-transfer) project for Nazareth’s government offices which was published in April 2011. Charcon is also assisting the Ministry with the NIS40 million ($10 million) to build new offices for the Attorney General in Jerusalem by writing and supervising the tender.
Elsewhere, the firm is representing Israel Land Administration in its responsibilities towards a new golf project golf course in northern Ashkelon.
[hide]
Other notable firms - Epstein Rosenblum Maoz
Epstein Rosenblum Maoz has had a solid year accumulating mandates across all practise areas.
On the banking side, practice head and name partner Amnon Epstein led a team advising JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley on the refinancing of their senior facilities extended to the NDS Group....
[more]
Epstein Rosenblum Maoz has had a solid year accumulating mandates across all practise areas.
On the banking side, practice head and name partner Amnon Epstein led a team advising JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley on the refinancing of their senior facilities extended to the NDS Group.
Further deals for the practice head saw him act for Barclays Capital on a margin loan to a company dual-listed in the US and Israel, in addition to advising on structured finance activities related to the Delek group’s property portfolio and gas activities.
Mobile network providers mandated the firm’s M&A team on several matters. Head of corporate Nimrod Rosenblum advised Vodafone Ventures, the investment mobile telecommunications company, on its investment in Israeli telecoms company Perfecto Mobile, a provider of remote access and automated testing solutions for mobiles. In another matter Belgacom required the firm’s assistance in buying a stake in Perfecto.
In a public M&A deal, Rosenblum and Epstein teamed up to act for Taya on the acquisition of shareholdings in two AIM-listed companies: Avesco and DCD Media.
The firm also assisted Delek in the structuring and implementing of a share buy-back.
Solar power has dominated the firm’s project finance activities. Epstein achieved financial closing for IC Green’s (a subsidiary of Israel Corporation) solar power plant in December, the first connected to the electricity grid in Israel. Epstein is also advising Paz, Supergas and Sun Israel on planned solar projects undertaken by these energy companies.
[hide]
Other notable firms - Horn & Co
Founded in 2010 by Yuval Horn, ten-lawyer boutique Horn & Co specialises in representing bio-technology, medical device, software and clean-tech companies.
In one deal which highlights this, the team acted on biotech company Aposense’s $24 million IPO in June 2010, in which Horn led a team advising the issuer....
[more]
Founded in 2010 by Yuval Horn, ten-lawyer boutique Horn & Co specialises in representing bio-technology, medical device, software and clean-tech companies.
In one deal which highlights this, the team acted on biotech company Aposense’s $24 million IPO in June 2010, in which Horn led a team advising the issuer.
Further capital markets deals also came on the equity side. The firm acted for Protalix Biotherapeutics, an Israeli-based drug company, on its registration to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) –it had been traded on the NYSE since 2007.
For Gefen Biomed Investments, Horn and his group assisted in a NIS7 million ($1.8 million) secondary offering on TASE, which closed in December 2010.
In M&A work, the firm has been mandated on the sell side. In March 2011, acting on behalf of PicApp, the firm advised on the sale of its subsidiary PicApp Technologies to Ybrant Digital in March 2011.
Other corporate work saw the firm advise on an acquisition agreement, in which a large Israeli company is expected to invest in the firm’s client PixCell in several steps and gradually buy-out its current shareholders. The first investment was completed in April, 2011.
[hide]
Other notable firms - J Zaltzman Gilat Knoller Graus Salomon & Co
Jointly headed by Joseph and Adi Zaltzman, J Zaltzman Gilat Knoller Graus Salomon & Co’s seven-lawyer strong capital markets practice has been active preparing prospectuses for a number of Israeli companies to enable fundraising, including: Ilex Medical, Leader Investments and Holdings and, Carmel Olfins.
Debt has proven an active area for the firm and it has assisted a number of companies with settling outstanding issues with bond holders....
[more]
Jointly headed by Joseph and Adi Zaltzman, J Zaltzman Gilat Knoller Graus Salomon & Co’s seven-lawyer strong capital markets practice has been active preparing prospectuses for a number of Israeli companies to enable fundraising, including: Ilex Medical, Leader Investments and Holdings and, Carmel Olfins.
Debt has proven an active area for the firm and it has assisted a number of companies with settling outstanding issues with bond holders. Acting for Polar Communications, Adi Zaltzman led a team assisting in paying of its NIS100 million ($26 million) debt to holders of corporate bonds in July 2010. The firm assisted also SR Accord Technologies in undertaking a similar arrangement.
Restructuring has been a mainstay from the firm’s banking practise recently. The firm’s most substantial deal sees it advising the KMN group on settling its NIS1.5 billion accumulated between five major Israeli banks - Bank Hapoaalim, Bank Leumi le Israel, Israel Discount Bank, Israel Mercantile Bank, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, and some foreign institutions. Completed mandates has seen the firm assist SR Accord, Kibbutz Ein Harod and Kibbutz Kfar Aza on settling debt with Israeli banks of NIS50 million, NIS47.5 million and NIS21 million respectively.
The firm also completed a piece of acquisition finance work, acting Ilex Medical in securing the funds to purchase 54% of Medtechnica for NIS190 million in March 2011.
In addition to assisting with accruing the funds for Ilex Medical’s deal with Medtechnica, the corporate team also handled the acquisition. Joint practice head Joseph Zaltzman led the team, which negotiated the NIS257 million deal. $0$0In a further mandate on the M&A side, the firm acted for Albaad Massuot Yitzhak on its $65 million acquisition of Rostam in August 2010.
Another mandate on the buy side saw the firm act for Elcam Medical in purchasing an Italian company, engaged in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of disposable components for the medical industry, for approximately NIS150 million in December 2010.
[hide]
Other notable firms - Shenhav & Co
Shenhav & Co specialises in advising on venture capital and M&A transactions. The firm’s recent notable work of the later variety has all been on the side of the target....
[more]
Shenhav & Co specialises in advising on venture capital and M&A transactions. The firm’s recent notable work of the later variety has all been on the side of the target.
A key deal for the firm saw it advise the State of Israel and Cross Israel Highways, the authority appointed by the Israeli Government to implement the $1.8 billion Cross Israel Project, in the sale of shares and various subordinated loans to Shikun & Binui and T.S.I Roads. The $450 million acquisition was completed in December 2010.
The firm was involved in Broadcom’s $313 million acquisition of Provigent in March 2011, advising the majority shareholders of the seller.
In 2010, the firm served as Israeli counsel to Altor Networks which was bought by Juniper Networks for $95 million in December that year. Several months earlier, in September, the firm acted for Storwize, a privately held Israeli company based in Massachusetts, in its $140 million sale to IBM.
[hide]
Other notable firms - Tal Ron Drihem & Co
Established in 2003 by lawyers Tal Ron and Yaniv Drihem, Tal Ron Drihem & Co is a boutique firm focussing on representing clients in high-Tech, business innovation and technology based legal matters.
Practice head Ron led a team representing long-standing client Analyzd, a leading Israeli, Cypriot and Swedish company which provides fraud prevention and risk management, in its acquisition by Klarna, a European in-store credit and invoice payment provider for the e-commerce sector, in April 2011....
[more]
Established in 2003 by lawyers Tal Ron and Yaniv Drihem, Tal Ron Drihem & Co is a boutique firm focussing on representing clients in high-Tech, business innovation and technology based legal matters.
Practice head Ron led a team representing long-standing client Analyzd, a leading Israeli, Cypriot and Swedish company which provides fraud prevention and risk management, in its acquisition by Klarna, a European in-store credit and invoice payment provider for the e-commerce sector, in April 2011.
A further deal on the M&A side saw Ron advise web-based marketing company 3Dots in its $10 million merger with the media and advertising company Web 3.0 which resulted in the establishment of Web3Dots.
On the capital markets side, the firm assisted the Nasdaq and TASE listed Tefron’s legal department with the issuance of $25 million of bonds offered by Tefron to financial investors and leading Israeli banks in 2010.
[hide]
Shibolet & Co
A well established firm, Shibolet & Co have been active in the M&A arena. On the buy side, the team advised mobile network provider Ceragon in the acquisition of the Norwegian company Nera Networks from Altek for $56 million in January 2011....
[more]
A well established firm, Shibolet & Co have been active in the M&A arena. On the buy side, the team advised mobile network provider Ceragon in the acquisition of the Norwegian company Nera Networks from Altek for $56 million in January 2011. The firm also advised US company Mytopia in selling its online social games business to a wholly-owned subsidiary of 888 Holdings for $18 million and an additional potential payment of up to $30 million based on the success of the acquired business during 2011.
Project finance work has provided the firm with several areas of activity. In the renewable energy sector the firm acted for FK Generators, which erected a $55 million 140MW and a $24 million 70MW power plant in Brazil. The firm is also assisting the company in developing photovoltaic power plants in Israel.
Clients singled out partner Richie Roberts as an energy expert and said he offered exemplary advice. "He's excellent, in case I have something like that or a more regulatory matter, he would be one the people, first and foremost, I would call."
Elsewhere in project finance work, the firm is representing the NTA-Metropolitan Mass Transit System, the government owned company in charge of the planning and implementation of a network of mass transit urban lines in Tel Aviv, which is expected to cost $3.3 billion.
[hide]
Weksler Bregman & Co
Weksler Bregman & Co has a very significant client in Africa-Israel. The Israeli investment house has numerous real estate assets across the globe and was hit badly by the sub-prime crisis and mandated the firm to assist in refinancing the company's NIS7....
[more]
Weksler Bregman & Co has a very significant client in Africa-Israel. The Israeli investment house has numerous real estate assets across the globe and was hit badly by the sub-prime crisis and mandated the firm to assist in refinancing the company's NIS7.5 billion ($2 billion) debt which included shares, two series of bonds issuances and debt for equity swaps by the time it was finalised in May 2010. Since the reorganisation the firm have advised Africa-Israel on further bond issuances of NIS400 million and NIS257 million. More recently the firm advised on the publication of shelf prospectus and a rights offering of NIS 200 million.
In M&A, the firm has assisted the company on the sale of a succession of corporate, real estate and infrastructure assets to enable the company to complete a successful restructuring. The firm sold holdings in Route 6, Israel's main toll highway, for NIS500 million; Africa-Israel Residences for NIS648 Million; and Ya'coby Construction Steel for NIS140 Million, in December 2010.
[hide]
Yehuda Raveh & Co
Project finance is Yehuda Raveh & Co's speciality but competitors are divided on whether the firm remains a tier one contender, stating that there are others who can offer more experienced advice. Yet the firm's doubters are inconsistent and admit that the firm has an established lawyer in its name partner Yehuda Raveh: "He is a name you can't argue with that," observes one....
[more]
Project finance is Yehuda Raveh & Co's speciality but competitors are divided on whether the firm remains a tier one contender, stating that there are others who can offer more experienced advice. Yet the firm's doubters are inconsistent and admit that the firm has an established lawyer in its name partner Yehuda Raveh: "He is a name you can't argue with that," observes one. The firm maintains its rank after securing and finalising several notable mandates in the past 12 months.
Raveh and partners Yehuda Glatt and Ron Vered jointly head the firm's project finance practice and the three have been active for developer Minrav Holding on securing tenders for two PFI (private finance initiative) projects: a $837 million for a military training Campus in Negev and the $390 million deal for the new Israeli Police Department's national training centre.
Clients highlight Yehuda Glatt as an excellent lawyer, with one giving this reference: "[He is] Very, very good. He's a nice person, very calm very professional. He has a lot of experience and he really helped to make the deal. It was in a very tight timetable and there are many lawyers who help to destroy deals but he helped to find solutions not only problems." Another appreciates the name partner and the firm's founder, Raveh: "I've known him for many years and he's always very helpful."
Although overshadowed by the firm's leading projects practice, the banking team has been active, especially for client Bank of Jerusalem. Practice head Lisa Tross and Raveh acted on the banks behalf on issuing several loans in the last 12 months.
The firm's recent capital markets work has all been leveraged off project finance deals and Raveh and Vered represented the Israel Infrastructure Fund, the first Israeli private equity fund, specialising in infrastructure related projects and companies, in a $195 million capital raising.
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Yehuda Glatt
Yehuda Raveh
Yigal Arnon & Co
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....
[more]
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."
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Barry Levenfeld
Shiri Shaham
Zellermayer Pelossof Rosovsky Tsafrir Toledano & Co
Zellermayer, Pelossof Rosovsky Tsafrir Toledano & Co's name partner and head of corporate. Michael Zellermayer, is persistently praised by peers, who brand him as a dealmaker, one says: "He is an excellent transactional lawyer....
[more]
Zellermayer, Pelossof Rosovsky Tsafrir Toledano & Co's name partner and head of corporate. Michael Zellermayer, is persistently praised by peers, who brand him as a dealmaker, one says: "He is an excellent transactional lawyer."
The firm boasts a number of private equity clients with an impressive stature. It has had a close relationship with Apax, which engendered a substantial portfolio of work in recent years and the international private equity house mandated Zellermayer on the acquisition of approximately 76% of Israel's largest investment firm Psagot Investment House from York Capital for $600 million in November 2010. The firm also arranged the financing for the deal.
The practice head is also working on two deals for European investment house Permira Partners which is contemplating purchasing 55% of Clal, Israel's largest insurance group and 60% of Netafim.
The firm's banking activities are leveraged of it's corporate work and it has predominantly been active for Apax and Permia advising on financing acquisitions in addition to restructuring existing credit facilities for other clients. Zellermayer aided Psagot Investment House with some debt refinancing and Apax with restructuring a facility, which was used to fund the purchase of Tunva, in January and February 2011, respectively.
On the project finance side, Eltel Technologistics is keeping the firm occupied. The firm is currently advising on defence contractor's bid to become a sub-contractor on the establishment, operation and financing of the new Israeli Defence Forces training city in Negev, which has estimated cost of $3.5 billion.
[hide]
Leading lawyers
Lior Oren
Michael Zellermayer