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 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 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.

Barnea represented a group of US underwriters, led by H.C. Wainwright, LLC, in the process of submitting Medigus Ltd.'s prospectus for the Nasdaq listing. Medigus raised USD 7.5 million and will be traded on Nasdaq in parallel with its listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Medigus Ltd is an Israel-based company active in the medical sector. It specializes in developing endoscopic procedures and devices.

Barnea and the UK Israel Tech Hub are co-hosting delegation from the UK, who will be visiting Israel for the first time to look for investment and cooperation opportunities, mainly in the mobility field.

Adv. Yuval Lazi was interviewed by the “Talks about Entrepreneurship” blog about the importance of founders’ agreements. Yuval discussed the risks of not having an agreement in place, as well as the cost and time involved in preparing one.

Adv . Zohar Lande, the head of our Litigation Department, was interviewed by Globes on the Antitrust Authority's decision to impose an unprecedented monetary sanction on the Central Bottling Company Group (Coca Cola Israel). Zohar commented that it is not enough to set the monetary sanctions, submitting that the Antitrust Authority must make use of all the tools at its disposal, including civilian tools.

Barnea is co-hosting with The Service a seminar on how to manage real estate assets and family companies. Adv. Micky Barnea, the firm's managing partner, will discuss the inter-generational transfer of family businesses. Adv. Liat Keisary will participate in the real estate panel.

We lectured today on the Israel Securities Authority as part of the Israel Bar Association's training course for directors.

Adv. Ilan Blumenfeld published an op-ed in TheMarker on the question of whether and how to enforce a monopoly on the prohibition of charging excessive and unfair prices.