Invest to Israel Report, July 2023

Summary

A total of 41 investment and acquisition projects occurred, with a total disclosed investment of approximately US$ 4.19 billion; among them, among them, there are 33 investment projects with a disclosed total amount approximately US$ 570 million.

Acquired Israeli companies include: Rookout, Biosight, Privatise, Imperva, Nuance Hearing, Syqe Medical, SCADAfence, and Tadiran Telecom.

Until July, the Israeli deals that China has invested in 2023 include: One Zero, Hexa, TinyTap, Optima Design Automation and NoTraffic.

In July 2023, Israel has a total of 33 investment projects.
Popular industries are concentrated in software, scientific engineering, healthcare, hardware, data analysis, artificial intelligence, information technology, manufacturing, biotechnology, and transportation.

Cross-border investments mainly come from the United States (15), Germany (2), Belgium (1), France (1), United Kingdom (1).

13 Israeli companies received investment from local.
It should be noted that some of the investment projects originated from multiple investors from different countries.

This article is based on publicly available market data at the time of publication.

List of Investment deals in July

list of M&A deals in July

1.  Rookout, Developer Cloud Native Debugging Platform

On July 31, 2023, observability and security platform Dynatrace announced plans to acquire observability startup Rookout. The transaction is expected to close by the end of September, and the transaction amount has not been disclosed.

Located in Tel Aviv, Israel, Rookout focuses on helping developers troubleshoot and debug code in production, enabling developers to quickly troubleshoot and debug running code in cloud-native applications hosted by Kubernetes (an open-source container cluster management system).

Developers are increasingly responsible for ensuring the quality and security of their code throughout the software lifecycle. Dynatrace believes that adding Rookout to the Dynatrace platform will provide developers with enhanced code-level observability of Kubernetes-managed production environments, which will also increase the interactivity and control of troubleshooting and debugging in production, greatly reducing the cost in pre-production environments. Replicate the need for issues and improve collaboration between development, IT, and security teams.

2. Biosight, Clinical-stage pharmaceutical company

On July 27, 2023, Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQX: ADXS) and clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Biosight announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement to merge via an all-stock transaction. The combined company will operate under the name Ayala Pharmaceuticals and will continue to trade on the OTCQX under Ayala's current ticker symbol ADXS.

The combined company will focus on advancing the oncology portfolio, with a primary focus on Ayala's AL102, a once-daily potent, selective, oral gamma secretase inhibitor (GSI), and Biosight's Aspacytarabine (BST-236).

Biosight is committed to developing innovative therapies for hematological malignancies and diseases, and its lead product, aspacytarabine (BST-236), is an innovative, proprietary antitimetabolite designed to address unmet medical needs by enabling high-dose chemotherapy y with reduced systemic toxicity.

Ayala Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage oncology company primarily focused on developing and commercializing small molecule therapeutics for patients with rare tumors and aggressive cancers, while also developing a proprietary Lm-based antigen delivery product for patients with more common cancers. Ayala President and Chief Executive Officer Ken Berlin said the addition of BST-236 provides Ayala with an additional avenue to develop a key clinical catalyst.

3. Privatise, Cybersecurity Startup

On July 26, 2023, Coro, a modern cybersecurity platform for the mid-market, announced the acquisition of Privatise, an Israeli provider of cybersecurity solutions for offices and remote work.

As the edge of the network continues to expand, analyst firm Gartner predicts that by 2025, 80% of enterprises will adopt a strategy of using SASE/SSE architecture to unify access to Web, cloud services, and private applications. The challenge for mid-market businesses (with lean IT teams, limited budgets, and little cybersecurity expertise) is managing the cost and complexity often associated with SASE implementations.

The acquisition adds key SASE capabilities to Coro's all-in-one platform, and with Privatise's SASE capabilities, Coro becomes the first cybersecurity product to deliver cloud-native, seamless and secure access to applications and resources.

4. Imperva, Cyber Security

On July 25, 2023, French aerospace and defense electronics group Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) announced that it has reached an agreement with investment firm Thoma Bravo to acquire 100% of data and application cybersecurity company Imperva in a deal valued at $3.6 billion.  Thoma Bravo bought Imperva for $2.1 billion in 2018.  The transaction is expected to close in early 2024, following customary antitrust and regulatory approvals.

Imperva provides network security solutions that protect business-critical data and applications-whether in the cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environments-and proactively identify, assess, and eliminate current and emerging threats to critical workloads.

5. Nuance Hearing, Hearing aid technology company

On July 25, 2023, the Italian-French eyewear company EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyewear group (manufacturer of Oakley and Ray-Ban sunglasses), announced its entry into the hearing aid market through the acquisition of Israeli startup Nuance Hearing. The transaction, which was completed in late 2022, was not disclosed until recently, with market estimates in the tens of millions of dollars.

Based in Tel Aviv, Nuance Hearing develops devices that reduce background noise and distractions, allowing people to hear better during conversations in loud environments.

EssilorLuxottica was formed from the €50 billion merger of eyewear group Luxottica and French lens maker Essilor in 2017. EssilorLuxottica plans to embed lenses with Nuance's acoustic beamforming technology, making the audio components completely invisible, which will remove long-standing psychological barriers to consumer adoption of traditional hearing aids. The glasses are expected to launch in the second half of 2024.

6. Syqe Medical, Medical Marijuana Inhaler

On July 18, 2023, international tobacco giant Philip Morris International is acquiring Israeli company Syqe Medical. Calcalist reported, official terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Founded in 2011, Syqe holds around 120 patents for a metered dose pharmaceutical-grade inhaler whose main innovation is the use of raw inflorescences of the cannabis plant, rather than processed products, and the ability to measure precise patient-specific inflorescences dose.

Philip Morris, best known for its Marlboro brand and one of the world's largest cigarette makers, invested $20 million in Syqe back in 2016. The deal will be conducted through Vectura, a subsidiary of Philip Morris, a British company that specializes in inhaler products used to deliver drugs. If approved, Philip Morris will buy the Syqe stock it does not already own, bringing the total price to $650 million.

7. SCADAfence, Network Security Solution Provider

On July 10, 2023, Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) announced that it has agreed to acquire SCADAfence, and the transaction is expected to be completed in the second half of 2023.

SCADAfence is a leading Israeli provider of operational technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) cybersecurity solutions for monitoring large-scale networks. SCADAfence's asset discovery, threat detection, and security governance capabilities are critical to industrial and building management cybersecurity programs.

In the industrial sector, cyberattacks on OT systems can be a significant cause of unplanned downtime, which is estimated to cost the industrial and critical infrastructure sectors more than $1 trillion in lost revenue.

The CADAfence portfolio will be integrated into the Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity+ suite within Honeywell Connected Enterprise, Honeywell's fast-growing software division with a strategic focus on digital, sustainability and OT cybersecurity SaaS products and solutions. The integration will enable Honeywell to provide an end-to-end enterprise OT cybersecurity solution for field managers, operations management and CISOs seeking enterprise security management and situational awareness.

8. Tadiran Telecom, Unified Communications and Collaboration Solutions

On July 10, 2023, supply chain and AI artificial intelligence solutions provider OMNIQ Corp. (NASDAQ: OMQS) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Tadiran Telecom. The company will pay a total of $15.25 million for a 100% interest in Tadiran.

Tadiran Telecom is a Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C, Unified Communications and Collaboration) solution provider, develops, designs, manufactures and sells unified communications as a service solutions, the company provides cloud communications and contact center solutions based on messaging, video and voice platforms, focusing on highly secure and reliable connect.

OMNIQ Corp. provides computerized and machine vision image processing solutions that use patented and proprietary AI technologies to provide data collection, real-time surveillance and monitor. The company provides technologies and services that help customers safely and securely move people, assets and data across airports, warehouses, schools, national borders and many other applications and environments.