Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

		Israel's Week in Business & Technology for week ended December 2 The week's top stories Contents Bank of Israel cuts interest rate to 2.75% Israel falls to lowest ever ranking in Corruption Index Housing construction hits 10-year high New mortgages fall to four-year low IEC on verge of $20b Tamar gas contract Teva and Ranbaxy strike deal over generic Lipitor Juniper, AT&T join Akamai in race to buy Cotendo Delek Group profit quadruples Tshuva bows to pressure on Delek Real Estate China's Chery, Israel Corp launch Qoros car brand Start-ups and VC Information technology Healthcare Transport and infrastructure Agriculture Energy Defense and aerospace Telecom and media Automotive Mergers and acquisitions Company results Capital markets Financial services Real estate Economy Features and analysis Start-ups and VC Wound care co NanoVibronix raises $300,000 from Tegal NanoVibronix is developing its proprietary low-intensity surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology for the treatment of chronic, non-healing wounds. MMAtech obtains CE Mark for knee implants Tonara puts sheet music onto iPads Information technology Juniper, AT&T join Akamai in race to buy Cotendo Akamai Technologies faces stiff competition in talks to acquire web application acceleration rival Cotendo for $300-350 million. Migdal becomes party at interest in Ceragon Alvarion to fire dozens after Wavion acquisition Telmap signs deal with South African mobile operator Cell C Healthcare Teva and Ranbaxy strike deal over generic Lipitor Ranbaxy will market the cholesterol treatment and pay part of profits to Teva in the 180-day exclusivity period. UBS reiterates 50% upside for Teva Insightec obtains UK's clearance for uterine fibroid treatment US patent for D Medical insulin pump component Itamar Medical, Henry Schein launch sleep diagnosis product Protalix obtains EU GMP compliance for Carmiel plant Compugen, DiscoveRx form partnership to commercialize peptides Transport and infrastructure Jerusalem light rail blames Egged for first-day fare foul-ups On the first day that the light rail was charging fares, many passengers found that the train did not recognize multi-ride tickets bought on buses. Transport Ministry blames Bombardier for railway car fire Agriculture Evogene and Monsanto extend collaboration on yield R&D The companies extended their R&D collaboration to identify key plant genes related to yield, environmental stress and fertilizer utilization in corn, soybean, cotton and canola. Energy IEC on verge of $20b Tamar gas contract The 15-year contract is based on a price of $5.50 per million British Thermal Units. Myra, Sarah partners sell 5% stake to Canadian drill operator IEC looks to replace Egyptian gas with imported LNG Ormat unit wins $65m New Mexico contract Or gas field too small to develop Noy Fund in talks to buy Dalia Energy stake Noy Fund to buy 10% of Ketura PV farm Cypriot gov't launches 2nd gas licensing round Petroleum Supervisor extends Delek offshore licenses Landau presses IEC to seal Tamar gas deal Globe Exploration reports drilling failure at Ofek 1 well Defense and aerospace Plasan comes down to earth After a long period of growth, the kibbutz-based vehicle protection company, whose products are a hit with the US military, finds itself laying off employees. Elbit Systems unveils armored trainer simulators Telecom and media Mirs blocks Nokia Siemens-Golan Telecom deal Golan Telecom has already filed a complaint against Mirs with the Antitrust Authority. Automotive China's Chery, Israel Corp launch Qoros car brand Sales of the joint venture's first model, a compact sedan, are slated to begin in 2013 in China and Western Europe. Mergers and acquisitions Dankner completes Fundtech-GTCR merger at $390m value Fundtech and GTCR affiliate BankServ will offer a range of financial and banking solutions. Patrick Drahi completes HOT takeover Tshuva acquires control of Avner shareholder Cohen Dankner mulls Discount Investment-Koor merger Company results Delek Group profit quadruples Delek Group's higher revenue and profit were driven by its international fuel operations and natural gas sales in Israel. Delek Real Estate losses widen eight-fold Social protest halves Shufersal profit IEC January-September profit up 603% Hapoalim Q3 net profit down 9% to NIS 471m Leumi profit down 74% to NIS 155m Discount Bank profit halved to NIS 121m Mizrahi Tefahot beats expectations with 22% profit rise Discount Investment loss widens seven-fold First Int'l Bank profit down 80% to NIS 21m Property sales boost Africa-Israel profit Leumi Card predicts lower profits in 2012 Capital markets Tshuva bows to pressure on Delek Real Estate Yitzhak Tshuva told the company's bondholders that he will inject more money into the company on top of the NIS 300 million promised. Tnuva close to pulling out of Romania IDB needs NIS 250m to repay debt next year Global Knafaim:18% revenue from American Airlines Shemen Oil and Gas raises NIS 120m in IPO Dankner wields axe at "Ma'ariv" Dankner sells Clal Insurance's UK unit Menorah mulls investing $10-12m in Vintage fund Koor buys 2.52m Credit Suisse shares Financial services Leumi completes Bank Safdie acquisition for CHF 143m Bank Leumi will merge Banque Safdie with Bank Leumi Switzerland in early 2012. Postal Bank to offer financial services Real estate Housing construction hits 10-year high The Central Bureau of Statistics reports 78,000 homes were under construction at the end of September. New mortgages fall to four-year low Leumi Mortgage Bank: Average mortgage down 20% Dankner, Tshuva lose big time in Las Vegas Banker sees soft landing for housing market Economy Bank of Israel cuts interest rate to 2.75% The deteriorating European debt crisis is already affecting the Israeli economy. Israel falls to lowest ever ranking in Corruption Index Treasury wants to cut NIS 3b from defense budget Export Institute warns on exposure to Europe OECD: Israel will avoid recession Citi predicts just 2% growth for Israel in 2012 National Insurance Inst.: 10% of Israelis go hungry Features and analysis We are in the midst of a crisis in technological education The percentage of students in Israel who are studying technological subjects has fallen to 30%, putting Israel seriously behind other OECD countries, where levels stand at 70%. Defense budget cuts create difficult dilemma The Defense Ministry wants the government to decide what to cut and by how much. Muslim Brotherhood respects peace treaty After trying and failing to seize power through violence, political Islam has grown up from a bad boy into a responsible adult. Superfly makes air miles count Superfly believes its search engine can save up to $3,000 a year for users who travel five or six times a year. Procter & Gamble is aiming for innovation Procter & Gamble Israel Innovation Center director Lital Asher says P&G is interested in becoming stronger in life sciences. "US aid to Israel is no longer sacred" As the US tightens its fiscal belt, questions are being asked about the annual military handout to Israel. The banks' real problems are just beginning The difficulties reflected in the third quarter results are of the past; the big write downs will come when the slowdown bites. Korean Aerospace courts Israel over jet trainer procurement Israel must choose between Korea's T-50 and Italy's M-346. "Globes" reports from Seoul. "It's getting harder to do business here" Israel Corp. CEO Nir Gilad believes he can turn Zim round, and is confident about the Chinese car venture and Better Place, but he thinks Israeli regulators are doing more harm than good.