Egypt is set to import gas from Ashkelon

Delek Drilling, the Tel Aviv-listed oil and gas company, announced last week it had completed a deal for the rights to operate an existing undersea gas pipeline to Egypt.

The Israeli company, together with its partners Noble Energy and the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, will assume control of the venture that will see Egypt buy Israeli gas for the next 15 years.

The undersea pipeline, which runs from the Ashkelon area of central Israel to Arish on the north Sinai coast, was originally built for Israel to buy Egyptian gas. This deal will see gas flowing in the opposite direction.

Israeli company signs Portugal defence deal

Defence electronics company Elbit Systems is to provide Portugal’s air force with advanced communications equipment and electronic warfare logistics support after winning a £39 million tender.

The Haifa-headquarted company will deliver the contract over a five-year period.

It comes shortly after it awarded a similar contract to service the Swiss military.

New acquisition to help fight insider threats

Proofpoint, a US cybersecurity company, is to to buy an Israeli insider threat management company in a cash deal worth £175 million.

The agreement to buy ObserveIT, which was founded in Israel and still has a research and development centre there, is expected to complete before the end of the year.

It had been acquired in 2013 by venture capital firm Bain Capital for £15.5 million.

Zip around the Dead Sea on an electric scooter

Tourists will soon be able to zip around the Dead Sea as LEO, an electric scooter sharing service, plans to launch a service in the Ein Bokek resort.

perated by Israel-based brand Inokim, the service will charge a flat fee for each ride and an additional fee per minute.

LEO’s app-based service allows users to book scooters up to 15 minutes in advance and briefly put the scooter they are using on hold for a nominal fee.

In partnership with hotel group Fattal, LEO will make 100 scooters available for hire.

An upgrade for Kfar Saba

Israeli construction company Electra Ltd has been chosen to build a 17-floor office tower above the Kfar Saba mall.

The upgrade to the Sharona Center, a commercial and office complex near the central Israeli town’s railway station, is worth £38 million and will significantly increase the floorspace for offices and commercial premises.

Ad tech company acquisition

NYSE listed Quotient Technology has agreed to buy Israeli ad-tech company Ubimo, which provides data analytics to help marketers better to understand and act on real-world behaviours.

Using artificial intelligence technology, Ubimo uses multiple datasets and techniques it has developed to make media campaigns more effective.

The Tel Aviv-based company has raised £7.3 million since it was founded. Investors include Pitango, OurCrowd and Yahoo Japan.

IzBiz is compiled every fortnight for the JC by Jeremy Seeff, partner at ERM, a cross-border law firm based in Tel Aviv for corporate, finance and real estate matters. Read previous editions of IzBiz here.