June Edition 2021

34 but since then it has been an ever exciting string of transactions for Israeli-headquartered businesses. Our Israeli clients, like all of our clients globally, are trying to position themselves for the post-Covid world and the opportunities that are bound to present themselves as the world moves back to some semblance of normalcy. ” Leading individua l Jonny Morris a t Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP): “Many of the 200+ Israeli / Israel-related companies for whom we act have been focused on fundraisings and then using the proceeds to expand their businesses through M&A. In particular, the UK market has been very active for M&A deals. We are also beginning to see transactions with the UAE resulting from the signing of the Abraham Accords.” BCLP’s Morris continues: “The recent conflict in the region has caused some concern within the broader investor community. However, if the current ceasefire holds, we anticipate that this will gradually dissipate. Indeed, the CEO of one of our US clients, which recently made a significant investment in Israel, is very keen to set a date for a visit to the country now that the situation has stabilized.” A&O’s Noyek adds: “We are still seeing private equity and strategics aggressively looking to target deals in Israel; high valuations for public exits in the technology sector in particular are making the benefits of private deal-making less clear but that is a global phenomenon. We have not yet seen the impact the recent rocket attacks have had on investor appetite in Israel, and this is something to watch, especially as it applies to investor appetite from the Gulf. It has once again been impressive to see how the tech economy has apparently managed to hardly skip a beat during the recent crisis.” While Israel’s vaccine rollout has allowed a partial return to commercial normality, what are the concerns or questions that prospective investors currently have?