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Israeli
Investment
Environment
Israel is a small country in a region facing continued geopolitical uncertainty. Youmight
expect that investing in Israel would be an irrational business decision. Nevertheless,
this could not be further from the truth, as the country constantly punches above its
weight and is widely considered a prime destination for a broad range of investors.
A strong combination of innovation and entrepreneurial drive continue to attract to
Israel the world’s leading technological companies, venture funds, private equity funds
and, more recently “crowd funding” investors, all of whom are looking for the idea, the
development, the product that is ahead of the field, either for strategic reasons or
simply for a financial return.
A diverse and ambitious commercial atmosphere employs highly qualified business
professionals in all types of transactions. The courts are well-regarded and impartial.
With the added ingredient of a highly educated and skilled workforce, it is no surprise
that Israel attracts substantial foreign investment from all corners of the world.
Despite its size Israel is a technological giant. Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Google
are among the household names who have invested in Israel, and continue to do so,
highlighting Israel as a focal point of technological development. They are not alone.
Over 280 multinational companies operate R&D centres in Israel, including the largest
technology companies in the world.
The wave of foreign acquisitions has continued over the last year. Towards the end of
2015, the XIOGroup purchased Lumenis, a developer of non-invasivemedical devices,
for US$510 million. In 2016, Cisco spent US$320 million on Leaba, a chip-design
start-up, and US$293 million on CloudLock, a developer of security technologies
for the enterprise cloud; Sony acquired chip developer Altair for US$212 million;
Oracle bought cloud computing specialist Ravello for US$500 million, followed by the
acquisition of advertising start-up Crosswise; Intel acquired Replay Technologies, a
3D video start-up, for US$175 million; and Dentsply Sirona acquired MIS, a dental
implant systems manufacturer, for US$375 million.
A number of Israeli companies have completed high profile public listings. At the same
time we are witnessing the expansion of smaller domestic technology companies
The wave of foreign acquisitions has continued over the last year.