A review by "Globes" found that, in 2004-13, Israeli high-tech and biotech companies were sold for $36.2 billion altogether.
So far this year, 20 Israeli high tech and life sciences companies at varying degrees of maturity have been sold for a total of $4 billion. This figure does not include the sale of the Wertheimer family's remaining stake in Iscar Ltd. to Warren Buffett. The most prominent exit was of traffic report app Waze to Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) for nearly $1 billion.
Although 2013 is not a record year, it is the third consecutive very good year for Israeli high tech. In 2012, companies were sold for a total of $3.9 billion, and in 2011, 36 companies were sold for $5 billion. The peak year in the past decade was 2006, with companies sold for $10.1 billion altogether, including the sales of two public companies - Mercury Interactive to Hewlett Packard Co. (NYSE:HPQ) and msystems to SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK). Excluding these two deals, companies were sold for $4 billion, about the same as this year.
A review by "Globes" found that, in 2004-13, Israeli companies were sold for $36.2 billion altogether (NIS 130 billion).
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 11, 2013
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013