Barnea is participating in the Tel Aviv University Innovation Conference for the second year. Adv. Micky Barnea will deliver a lecture on the legal challenges facing late-stage startups and serve as a judge in the competition final alongside mentors from Shazam, Prezi, Capsula, Strauss Group, and IAI. Adv. Yuval Lazi and Adv. Ariella Dreyfuss will judge the startup competition in the fintech, gaming, and IoT categories. Yuval will also participate in a panel discussion on startup funding alongside a representative of the Office of the Chief Scientist, the CEO of TAU Ventures, and the CEO of Cockpit, El Al’s startup support program.

Our firm represented the public real estate company ASRR in the ILS 6.5 million sale of its holdings in Denisra-Ranitec Real Estate.

As part of our cooperation with Unistream, our firm is taking part in a meeting of the association's investment committee, during which students present a business venture developed during the program. Our partners will participate as judges. Other participants include CEOs and industry executives, investment managers, and directors of venture capital funds.

Adv. Yuval Lazi, a partner in the Corporate Department, will lecture today on founders' agreements and capital raising at Elite Entrepreneurship, the Entrepreneurship Course of starTAU, Tel Aviv University Entrepreneurship Center.

We published an op-ed on the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision to file a civil action in a federal court against two Israeli residents who traded in Mobileye stock and options before and after the announcement of its merger with Intel Corp. We noted that the SEC's case against the two Israelis, on suspicion of insider trading, is largely circumstantial.

Our firm lectured today on employment aspects for startups at the AtoBe – Azrieli College of Engineering Startup Accelerator.

Barnea represented Avgol Industries 1953 Ltd. in the issuance of a new bond series totaling ILS 197 million. Avgol is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of nonwoven fabrics for the hygiene market, and its securities are included in leading indices on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

Barnea represented a group of investors, led by Viola Credit, in the acquisition of Negev Ceramics from creditor banks. Viola was represented by Adv. Micky Barnea, Adv. Ilan Blumenfeld, and Adv. Sagi Gross.

Barnea, together with Nisha Global, will host today a seminar on how to overcome common recruitment challenges when branching out globally to foreign markets. Adv. Marie Tsion,  a partner and head of the Employment Department, will lecture on the legal aspects of a company's activity abroad.

We were interviewed by The Marker following the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's (HKSE) approval of Israel as an "acceptable jurisdiction." We noted that the HKSE’s approval is currently limited to Israeli public companies already listed on a foreign exchange and Israeli private companies seeking to list on the HKSE, and that it may also result in cost savings for such companies.

Barnea, together with the patent firm Ehrlich Fenster, will host today a seminar geared toward entrepreneurs who are launching an AI startup. Adv. Micky Barnea will lecture on the legal and governance implications of AI.

Adv. Zohar Lande, Adv. Jacques Gershoni, and Adv. Yatir Madar from the Litigation Department succeeded in canceling an arbitration ruling in the Tel Aviv District Court, a cancellation which was then upheld by the Supreme Court. The parties had appointed an arbitrator to hear and rule on a specific dispute between them. After the arbitrator had issued an arbitration award which had been fully carried out by both parties, the arbitrator joined forces with one of the parties, while attempting to ignore the arbitration award, which had already been carried out, with the aim of unilaterally issuing a new arbitration ruling. In fact, the new arbitration ruling overturned the original award, which, as noted, had been fully carried out by the parties. The party with whom the arbitrator had cooperated (the “other party’’), relying on the new arbitration ruling, filed a dual application to the Tel Aviv District Court - one for the approval of the new arbitration award and the second for the temporary imposition of liens on the property of Barnea’s client. Barnea's litigation team succeeded in obtaining an order for cancellation of the new arbitration award. The Court clarified that the new arbitration award was given without authority, because it exceeded the limits of the authorization defined by the parties and because it contradicted a previous ruling of the arbitrator. The other party did not accept the ruling of the District Court and chose to submit a motion for leave to appeal the ruling of the Tel Aviv District Court to the Supreme Court, as well as a request for temporary remedies in the appeal. Barnea filed a firm response to the other party’s request for temporary relief, in which it was made clear that the need to impose temporary liens was never examined on its merits in the District Court, and elaborated on the fact that the request for leave to appeal the judgment of the District Court lacked any basis both in law and in fact. The Supreme Court denied the motion for leave to appeal and instructed the other party to pay Barnea's client's legal fees and expenses. "It is known that the annulment of an arbitration award is a rare occurrence, and that it does not happen routinely," commented Adv. Zohar Lande, Head of the Litigation Department. "This rejection by the Supreme Court actually means the upholding of the District Court’s  ruling,  the cancellation of the new arbitration award and, accordingly, the cancellation of the temporary remedies imposed on the assets of our client”.

Adv. Ariella Dreyfuss will lecture today at the Radzyner Law School in IDC Herzliya, as part of the tutoring program Olim Le’Mishpatim, which aims to provide non-native Hebrew speakers with extra lessons in legal courses.

Barnea represented Viola Private Equity in a USD 50 million investment in Similar Web, a leading digital market intelligence platform that provides insights for websites and applications.