Teva CEO’s sudden exit prompts rocky prognosis 30 Oct 2013 The world’s largest generic drugmaker has lost boss Jeremy Levin. That raises governance concerns and casts doubt on the firm’s ability to weather the expiration of patents on its biggest seller. A takeover could be in the offing, but shareholders probably won’t be so lucky.
Spinoff wave reaches the Dead Sea 26 Jun 2013 Corporate carve-ups are all the rage. Now Israel’s richest man is joining in. Unravelling his sprawling Israel Corp will be complex but worthwhile. There are still countries where conglomerates make sense. But where capital is easily available, markets much prefer simplicity.
Google gets premium accident insurance with Waze 10 Jun 2013 Maps are critical to the search giant’s local commerce ambitions. Paying $1.3 bln for the crowd-sourced traffic app should make Google’s offerings even more effective. The price reflects Google’s desire to keep data out of the clutches of hard-driving rivals Apple and Facebook.
Israel may give Canada taste of own M&A medicine 31 Oct 2012 Potash wants to buy the rest of Israel Chemicals it doesn’t own. That would give a foreign firm control over one of the country’s few natural resources and a big role in the iconic Dead Sea. Canada has nixed such overseas takeovers for less - and may now be on the receiving end.
Egypt-Israel energy ties look broken 24 Apr 2012 It is hard to believe that Egypt’s termination of a long-term contract to supply gas to Israel is a pure business dispute given the odd timing of the move. In the absence of a resolution Israel faces some difficult months. That’s bad for peace but doesn’t destroy it.
Egypt’s clash with Israel puts investors on guard 15 Sep 2011 The attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo underscores the dislocation between youth and ruling military. U.S. funding for the army is tied to the peace treaty. But the army’s future role is unknown. The latest row adds to the growing list of foreign investors’ worries.