Beijing, China and Tel Aviv, Israel, January 15, 2014 --- Infinity Group, a cross-border, private equity platform, announced today the founding of CASIC Infinity Consulting Co. Ltd. (CICO), a joint venture of Infinity and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC). The establishment of the company was formalized in a ceremony at the CASIC headquarters in Beijing.
Leveraging both Infinity’s and CASIC’s existing platforms and networks, CICO intends to build a new bridge for select Israeli technology companies to more easily enter the Chinese market through mutually beneficial partnerships between CASICs many sub-companies and Israeli technology companies interested in the Chinese market.
“The platform is now established. Last May we signed an MOU in the presence of both the Chinese Premier and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu. During the last half year we were exposed to very impressive Israeli companies, and we have already had success cases. We currently have seven projects running in the fields of agriculture, water and smart cities. I believe it is a good start,” said CASIC General Manager Cao Jianguo. “For years CASIC has led China in the area of smart cities. Moving forward we plan to continue encouraging cooperation between our hundreds of sub-companies and Israeli companies which can help our companies to technologically upgrade.”
Mr. Cao continued, “I would like to thank the team from Infinity Group for the hard work they have done in order to create this cooperation. I would also like to specially thank the Israeli Embassy and the State of Israel for the great effort they are making to improve the cooperation between the two countries.”
Israel’s Commercial Consul to Beijing Hovav Ref said, “We are very happy to see moving forward a cooperation that strengthened with the arrival of Prime Minister Netanyahu to China last summer. We support the establishment of the new platform and look forward to seeing the success this joint effort will bring to participating Israeli companies.”
“I would like to extend my sincerest appreciation to the teams of both sides who dedicated a great deal of work to create the joint platform. We have created the foundation; now we need to build the house. Let’s make sure we are building a beautiful and stable new house, to last for many, many years to come,” said Infinity Group managing partner and founder Mr. Amir Gal-Or. “I would like to stress one issue. We all know how complicated it is to create a bridge between two countries. It is also complicated to create a bridge between two cultures, as well as between two companies. In our new platform we have all of these complex layers. To succeed, we will need patience, sensitivity and hard work. The ceremony today is a good sign for the beginning of 2014, and just before the Chinese New Year and the beginning of the year of the horse. May we ride together in harmony and success.”
About CASIC
China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), the backbone of China’s national science and technology industry, is a large state-owned hi-tech enterprise under the direct administration of the Chinese central government. CASIC has five academies, two scientific research and production bases, six publicly-listed companies and more than 580 enterprises and institutes, with more than 130,000 employees. CASIC’s annual revenue in 2012 was RMB 134 Billion. For more information, please visit http://www.casic.com.cn
About Infinity Group
Infinity Group is a cross-border platform and equity fund known for its strong roots in China. Infinity Group currently manages US$ 300 million and 2B RMB. It has 100 portfolio companies and 17 RMB joint venture funds throughout China, making Infinity the owner of more RMB funds than any other foreign PE fund in China. Infinity to date has made 100 deals and 30 successful exits. Sectors of focus include: medical, agricultural, water, energy and high end manufacturing. Infinity is led by managing partners Mr. Amir Gal-Or and Mr. Avishai Silvershatz. For more information, please visit http://www.infinity-equity.com.
