Q1/2019 Acquisitions Amount in Israel Sums Up to 10.5 B USD
April 2019 has started with the Japanese Government selected the new imperial era name, Reiwa, which is set to start when Crown Prince Naruhito becomes the new Emperor on May 1st.
Prime Minster Shinzo Abe explained the meaning and inspiration of the new era name. "Culture is nurtured when people bring their hearts together in a beautiful way. "Reiwa" has such meaning." He says the name represents the hope that every Japanese person will achieve their aspirations just like a plum flower flourishes after a severe winter.
As we check the Israeli startup Eco-System acquisitions status and use Prime Minster Shinzo Abe’s analogy, we see that the Israeli startup Eco-System is also flourishes during the winter, with more than 10.5 Billion USD total amount taking in consideration the huge exit of Mellanox that was bought by NVIDA in a total amount of 6.9 Billion USD.
Even by omitting the Mellanox-NVIDA amount, we see continuity in the acquisitions from the American market with brick and mortar companies like McDonald's and Walmart that need support in their digital transformation and with IT players like Google, Amazon, Palo Alto Networks and more that are looking to expand their digital advantage with innovative products.
Table 1: US & Israel Focused Deals:
After the American market we see also Chinese companies, Alibaba continues to be on the lookout for Israeli startups with acquisition of an AR infrastructure startup in Israel and continues it conquest for new innovative technology to compete with the US companies like Apple and Magic Leap, the sum was not disclosed.
Another Chinese company from the traditional Automotive industry is TUS International that acquired a communications company for their connected car solutions.
Table 2: China & Israel Focused Deals
Behind the American and Chinese we can see Samsung moving forward with the acquisition of an image processing startup to improve their cameras (for the automotive and mobile phone cameras) and reduce the need with 3rd party suppliers.
And we have also a local acquisition by the Israeli security company RAFAEL, that bought a company in the unmanned Ariel systems industry.
Table 3: Israel and South Korea Focused Deals
Fast moving companies:
As the Semiconductors industry is leading the Q1 2019 acquisition chart with NVIDIA leading by far, we see the IT companies moving forward with their speedy continual strategy to be market leaders and not waiting for the slow-moving companies to adapt.
We also see more brick and mortar in the Israeli market looking for ways to support their digital transformation.
If we take a look at the country’s origin of the acquiring companies, we see distribution of the following:
Graph 1: Distribution of Acquisitions Amount by Country in The Israeli Market – Q1 2019
Graph 2: Distribution of Acquisitions Amount by Country in The Israeli Market Excluding Mellanox & NVIDIA Deal Amount – Q1 2019
To conclude and continue Prime Minster Shinzo Abe’s analogy, we see the continues flourishing of the Israeli market in terms of acquisitions from global players from different countries even during the winter and Israel can be a good place for the Japanese corporates to flourish after the cold winter Japan is experiencing for long years in terms of economic slow-down compare to their 90’s. And we hope to see more acquisitions been made by Japanese companies in Israel as Japan is one of the biggest innovative economies in world.
Innovation culture between Japan and Israel can be also nurtured when both Japanese and Israeli can bring their hearts together in a beautiful way.
