Three “homeland security” projects run jointly between the US and Israel are set to receive £3.7 million from a development fund.
The Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) foundation is hoping to increase cooperation between the two countries on projects selected by the US Department of Homeland Security and Israel’s Ministry of Public Security.
The three companies selected in this round of funding are working on solutions for drone command capabilities, first-responder tracking devices and video security for remote locations.
A new opening for Sderot housing
The Sderot Local Planning and Building Commission recently agreed new building permits for the construction of 1,000 new homes for “Sderot in the Park”, a new neighbourhood in the northern part of the town.
As part of the zoning plan, half of the housing units will be allocated to the government’s discounted apartment plan and the other half will be sold at regular market prices.
Built on 162.5 acres next to Road 333 , it will also result in the construction of a new entrance to the town.
Vast buyout for ‘internet of things’ firm
Private equity giant Insight Partners has acquired a controlling stake of Armis, a fast-growing “internet of things” security startup, witha company valuation of £768 million.
Insight will pay cash for control of Armis, and will be joined with a £77 million participation from Google’s investment company CapitalG.
Some existing shareholders will also retain their stake. Armis was founded in 2015 and runs offices in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv.
Our role in British cybersecurity takeover
ERM is an international-calibre law firm with particular experience advising on cross-border matters, especially those involving the UK.
Recently we advised innogy, the innovation arm of German energy company e.on, on the sale of its cybersecurity start-up company Segasec, which was acquired by UK-based Mimecast.
The sale has been widely reported as being valued at several tens of millions of pounds.
ERM regularly advises clients on a range of corporate, finance, real estate and energy matters, among others.
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.
