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The center will focus on natural gas development, US LNG infrastructure, regional energy transport networks, grid reliability, critical infrastructure protection, research, technology development, and workforce training. The initiative builds on the Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act of 2019, which sought to strengthen US energy cooperation with regional allies.

Read more in i24NEWS.

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The notes were rated BBB- by S&P Global and Fitch Ratings. ICL said the proceeds are intended for general corporate purposes, including repayment of borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

Chapman and Cutler represented trustee Reznik Paz Nevo Trusts Ltd., with Michael Friedman and John Hitt advising on the transaction. FBC & Co. acted for ICL Group. Cleary Gottlieb and Goldfarb Gross Seligman represented the investment banks.

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The transaction supports Yellowstone’s access to international capital markets and highlights the continued use of the Israeli bond market by US real estate platforms seeking alternative financing sources. The offering was led on behalf of Yellowstone by Issac Hera and Joe Einav.

Herrick Feinstein acted as US counsel to Yellowstone, with a team including Yariv Ben-Ari and Morris DeFeo. Shimonov & Co. served as Israeli counsel.

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The combined company is expected to provide businesses with a single platform to accept, hold, and move money across more than 190 countries and territories, including support for stablecoin transactions. At close, the combined business is expected to generate approximately USD 3 billion in annual revenue and process more than USD 500 billion in annual payment volume.

Davis Polk is acting for Payoneer, while Simpson Thacher and Stikeman Elliott are representing Nuvei.

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A bond series was issued for a term of 10.25 years, with a call option after five and at a 5.7% interest rate and 155 basis points spread, the lowest in the history of an Israeli bank issuance of CoCo bonds overseas. The ‎issuance was led by major global investment banks including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley.

Herzog represented Bank Leumi on the offering. The transaction was led by Ron Ben-Menachem, Irit Roth, and Mohammad Mawasi, together with Dr. Ehab Farah, Hillel Billauer, and Eden Ressler.

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Ranked behind Silicon Valley, New York and London, the city generated an estimated ecosystem value of USD 250.3 billion, up 162% from the previous report.

The study, which analyzed more than 5.5 million companies across over 350 ecosystems worldwide, identified artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, cybersecurity and life sciences as the sectors underpinning Tel Aviv’s growth. The city also ranked fifth globally for AI startups and placed among the top ten for research and development capabilities, talent and overall performance.

Startup Genome founder and president Marc Penzel said Tel Aviv’s concentration of talent and innovation continues to distinguish it globally. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said the city remains committed to supporting startups and multinational technology companies as AI and other emerging technologies reshape the economy.

Read more in Ynet.

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The implications for Israeli businesses are strongly beneficial, and we asked Winston Taylor’s Israel desk leader Josef Fuss to dive deeper into them:

IsraelDesks: For Israeli clients and businesses unfamiliar with the new platform, how would you describe Winston Taylor and what the combined firm now represents in the international legal market?

Josef Fuss: Winston Taylor is a transatlantic law firm built for the businesses, people, and markets driving capital and innovation. The firm is present in the major commercial centers that matter to global clients: the US, the UK, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. With a team of over 1,400 lawyers, Winston Taylor brings deep experience in Major Litigation, Critical Transactions, Strategic IP, and Private Wealth; and four focus sectors: Technology, Media & Telecommunications, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Financial Services, and Projects, Energy & Infrastructure. Whatever the challenge, Winston Taylor is in the room with its clients, shoulder to shoulder in the everyday moments, and the ones that change everything.

IsraelDesks: What strategic advantages does the merger create for Israeli companies operating or expanding internationally?

Josef Fuss: Winston Taylor provides a significant boost to business in Israel as it opens many new opportunities for Israeli companies in the US, Europe and Latin America. We’re excited to be able to serve Israeli businesses looking at broader expansion to the US market, whether that’s listing on US capital markets, acquiring US targets or selling to US buyers, raising finance in the US, or operating and expanding products and services to the US.

The ability to service IP-rich Israeli businesses across the US and Europe in one firm makes our new firm a compelling proposition and is a significant advantage for Israeli businesses looking at rapid growth and for support on their critical transactions.

Winston Taylor builds upon the European coverage that the UK-led businesses of Taylor Wessing have been offering Israeli clients for decades. All the key lawyers offering those services will now belong to one firm – Winston Taylor.

IsraelDesks: How does the combined firm strengthen your ability to support Israeli clients on cross-border transactions, disputes, and strategic growth initiatives?

Josef Fuss: We’re focusing on those areas where our clients need us most, and that most certainly applies to our Israeli client and contact base. The new firm will focus on four key areas:

(1) Critical transactions – we’ll help drive deals across the value spectrum, from early-stage venture funding to significant growth investments, private equity, M&A and capital markets.

(2) Strategic IP – we’ll work with IP-rich businesses to protect, scale and defend ideas with a holistic IP offering. Winston Taylor combines one of the strongest IP groups in Europe with a very strong US practice, to create one of the largest and most highly-rated IP teams in the world.

(3) Major litigation – we’ll protect and defend our clients as they break new ground, and our combination’s strength means that we’ll fast be recognised as market leaders in complex investigations and cross-border litigation.

(4) Private wealth. Private capital often sits at the heart of leading businesses, industries, and markets in Israel and across the globe. From founders and family offices to multi-jurisdictional estates, our new firm will support private wealth – and the businesses it creates and grows – throughout its life-cycle. These four key areas resonate strongly with our Israeli client base.

IsraelDesks: Which sectors or types of Israeli businesses do you believe stand to benefit most from Winston Taylor’s expanded global platform?

Josef Fuss: It has a positive impact on all our Israeli clients, irrespective of sector. But we’ll continue to focus on Israeli companies in key sectors such as Technology, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Financial Services, and real estate.

IsraelDesks: Looking ahead, what role do you see Israel playing within Winston Taylor’s broader international strategy?

Josef Fuss: Because Israeli tech firms have forged such an important and leading role in the tech sector the country will remain a key geographic focus for us. On the one hand we’ll continue to see innovative new businesses seeking international markets to sell their products and services to and in which they can seek investment and raise finance for future growth and on the other we will see strategic and financial investors and acquirers looking to invest and acquire these businesses. Our tech-sector expertise, our long history of supporting innovators and fast-growth businesses and those investing and acquiring them, and our ability to provide extensive access to both European and US markets means that Winston Taylor will quickly become a firm of choice for such critical transactions.

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Industry representatives warned that Israel risks crossing a critical cost threshold in which local tech employees become more expensive than comparable workers in Silicon Valley. The concern is that sustained currency strength could make Israeli R&D operations less competitive within global corporate budgeting processes.

The discussions come as multinational technology companies continue to play a central role in Israel’s innovation ecosystem, both as major employers and as buyers of local startups and technologies.

Read more in Globes.

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