Davis Polk lawyers bring in-depth knowledge and experience across a broad range of business sectors to Israeli companies seeking opportunities around the world, as well as companies seeking opportunities within Israel. We have been at the center of major transactions and legal matters involving prominent Israeli corporations, including in the financial services, technology, media, telecommunications, energy, chemicals and healthcare sectors.

Our team consists of lawyers who speak Hebrew, including a number of lawyers who have graduated from Israeli law schools and have worked in some of the most prestigious law firms in Israel. We regularly advise Israeli companies in the M&A, tax, litigation, finance/restructuring, private equity and intellectual property practice areas. This wide breadth of experience has allowed us, over the course of many joint assignments, to develop strong relationships with a number of leading Israeli law firms, investment banks, accounting firms and VC funds.

Davis Polk serves clients worldwide from 10 offices located in key financial centers in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. We combine U.S., English, Hong Kong and French law capabilities to provide our clients with consistently excellent advice and service.

Our recent assignments involving Israeli companies include Israel’s largest corporations, high-tech and bio-tech companies and financial institutions.

CAPITAL MARKETS

• American Well Corporation ($853 million). We advised American Well Corporation (“Amwell”) on its $853 million IPO and NYSE listing of Class A common stock. We also advised Amwell on a concurrent sale of Class C common stock.
• Max Stock Ltd. ($188 million). We advised Max Stock and the selling shareholder on Max Stock’s NIS 621 million (approximately $188 million) IPO and listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange of ordinary shares.
• Wix.com Ltd. ($960 million). We advised the representatives of the initial purchasers on an aggregate $960 million Rule 144A offerings by Wix.com Ltd. of its convertible senior notes.
• Leviathan ($2.25 billion). We advised Leviathan on a $2.25 billion high-yield bond offering in connection with the expansion of its gas fields. This is the largest Israeli corporate bond deal ever. 
• Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ($55 million). We advised the representatives of the several underwriters on the $55 million IPO and Nasdaq listing of common stock of Ayala Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a pre-revenue biotechnology company.
• Gamida Cell Ltd. ($145 million). We advised the representatives of the underwriters on the $50 IPO and Nasdaq listing of ordinary shares and the $95 million follow-on offering of ordinary shares by Gamida Cell.
• Novocure Limited ($165 million). We advised the underwriters on the $165 million IPO and Nasdaq listing of the common shares of Novocure Limited. NovoCure Limited is a commercial-stage oncology company developing a novel, proprietary therapy called Tumor Treating Fields, or TTFields, for the treatment of solid tumor cancers.
• Delek Group ($2 billion). We advised Delek Drilling LP, as the selling shareholder, and Tamar Petroleum Limited, as the issuer, on Tamar Petroleum’s international IPO of its ordinary shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. We also advised subsidiaries of the Delek Group on a $2 billion senior secured notes offering. This is the second-largest corporate bond offering in history by an Israeli issuer, and the largest corporate bond offering by an Israeli issuer since 2011.
• Israel Chemicals ($1.82 billion). We advised Israel Chemicals on its $421 million IPO and NYSE listing of ordinary shares. This was the first-ever IPO that included not just an offering but also a forward sale agreement. We also advised Israel Chemicals on subsequent $1.4 billion senior notes offerings.
• Cellcom Israel ($1.7 billion). We advised Cellcom Israel on its $400 million IPO of common stock. We also advised Cellcom Israel on three subsequent private placements of common stock valued at $157 million in the aggregate, as well as four offerings of debentures with aggregate proceeds of $1.1 billion.
• NICE Systems ($682 million). We advised NICE Systems Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NICE Ltd., on its offering of exchangeable senior notes and related exchangeable note hedge and warrant transactions.
• Amdocs Limited ($650 million). We advised Amdocs Limited on its $650 million SEC-registered debt offering.
• Verint ($639 million). We advised the underwriters on concurrent SEC-registered offerings of $239 million of common stock and $400 million of convertible senior notes by Verint, a global leader in Actionable Intelligence solutions.
• Stratasys ($481 million). We advised the underwriters on the $481 million SEC-registered offering of common stock of Stratasys.

M&A

• NeuroDerm. We advised Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, a Japanese pharmaceutical company focused on research-driven ethical drugs, on its $1.1 billion acquisition of NeuroDerm, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based clinical stage pharmaceutical company that develops drug-device combinations for central nervous system diseases.
• NICE Systems. We advised NICE Systems, a worldwide leading provider of enterprise software solutions based on advanced analytics of structured and unstructured data, on its $940 million acquisition of inContact, a cloud contact center software leader that helps organizations achieve their customer experience goals.
• Taboola. We are advising Taboola, a digital advertising platform and the largest dataset of content consumption patterns on the open web, on its $850 million merger with Outbrain, a native advertising technology provider used by thousands of marketers.
• Attunity. We advised Attunity, an Israeli provider of data integration and big data management software solutions, on its $560 million acquisition by Qlik Technologies, an end-to-end data management and analytics platform provider.
• ECI Telecom. We advised ECI Telecom, an Israeli provider of network solutions to service providers and data centers, on its $455 million acquisition by Ribbon Communications, a software solutions provider to service providers and enterprise communications environments.
• Fiverr. We advised Fiverr, the world’s largest marketplace for creative and digital services, on its acquisition of AND CO, a provider of software platforms for freelancers.
• Adama. We advised Adama and its U.S. subsidiary Control Solutions on its acquisition of Bonide Products, a manufacturer and distributor of home, lawn and garden pest problem solutions. Based in Israel, Adama is one of the world's leading crop protection companies.
• We advise a number of Israeli corporations and VC funds on their U.S. operations and have advised U.S. clients on investments in Israel.

finance

• Playtika Holding Corp. We advised the joint lead arrangers and the administrative agent on a $2.5 billion senior secured term loan facility and $250 million senior secured revolving credit facility provided to Playtika Holding Corp.
• Delek Drilling LP and Avner Oil Exploration LP. We advised Delek Drilling LP and Avner Oil Exploration LP, gas subsidiaries of Delek Group, a diversified energy company with assets in the petroleum refining, marketing, supply and retail industries on a $300 million asset-backed revolving credit facility for the financing of project Tamar.

LITIGATION AND REGULATORY

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  Israel Chemicals Limited. Davis Polk partner Edmund Polubinski III was recently tapped by Israel Chemical Limited (“ICL”), a global manufacturer of products used in the agriculture, food and engineered materials industries, to serve as its expert on the U.S. securities laws in a putative class action brought against it in Tel Aviv, Israel. The case is Ra’becca Technologies Ltd. v. Israel Chemicals Ltd., Cl.A. 51914-12-18, in the District Court of Tel Aviv, Economic Division.
• Bank Leumi. We represented Bank Leumi:
  • In a contempt and turnover action brought by the trustee of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy estate in connection with the attachment of funds by Bank Leumi in Israel.
  • In connection with international tax investigations conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice and the New York Department of Financial Services.
• We advise a number of Israeli banks on:
  • Confidential investigations.
  • Regulatory matters relating to the U.S. Dodd-Frank law.

TAX

• We have advised:
  • Israeli companies and underwriters regarding the tax aspects of securities offerings in the United States and other international financing arrangements.
  • Israeli and U.S. companies regarding the tax aspects of various mergers and consolidations involving Israeli companies.
  • Israeli companies in connection with structuring investment vehicles.