The Legal 500

Herzog Fox & Neeman’s sizeable and ‘excellent’ practice is ‘knowledgeable, practical, and timely’, and represents banks and other financial institutions on regulatory issues and as lenders. It also advises funds and fund managers and acts for corporations including Makhteshim Agan and Partner Communications on borrowing. It advised Citibank on financing The Israel Corporation’s $800m acquisition of Oil Refineries Ltd and represented Israel Discount Bank (IDB) on the ILS650m credit refinancing of Delek Real Estate. Other clients include Bank Hapoalim’s London branch, Cerberus, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Prisma. Ronen Baharav is ‘very responsive and respected by the banks; he has superb negotiating skills and a great grasp of financing transactions’. For banking M&A, Alan Sacks is ‘perhaps the best corporate lawyer in Israel, certainly with regard to transactions having an international element’, while Mark Phillips is ‘probably the best project finance lawyer in Israel’. Adam Eytan and Eliot Sacks are also recommended, along with Gil White for finance agreements.

‘Particularly good’ and ‘highly professional and expert’, Kantor, Elhanani, Tal & Co’s lender-oriented practice advises on top-end transactional and regulatory matters, as well as litigation and bankruptcy and insolvency cases. Famously, the firm’s key client is Bank Leumi but it also advises Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot, Dexia Israel Bank, FIBI Investment House and Phoenix Insurance. Recent highlights include advising four leading banks on the ILS7.5bn restructuring of Africa Israel Investments’ debts, and advising a syndicate on partial financing of the Partner Communications deal. Practice head Dalia Tal is ‘particularly excellent’ and influential.

S. Horowitz & Co’s ‘very good’ lender-side practice represents Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot, Bank of Scotland plc, First International Bank of Israel (FIBI), HSBC and IDB. It represented a consortium on $550m construction financing for Oil Refineries Ltd; advised Bank Hapoalim on C$330m multi-currency revolving credit facilities for Gazit-Globe and Gazit Canada; and represented Deutsche Bank as lender on $400m acquisition financing. Anthony Bloch and Clifford Davis are ‘particularly good, responsive, have strong drafting skills and are creative in resolving conflicts’. Bloch and Michelle Liberman ‘form an excellent project finance team’. The litigation department also extensively represents banks.

Caspi & Co provides ‘excellent service in matters that have public aspects’. It handles litigation for Bank Leumi and Bank Hapoalim, advises IDB as lender on transactions, and advises on complex derivatives, funds and financing for Barclays, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan. Norman Menachem Feder and Ram Caspi are recommended.

Gornitzky & Co has added lender-side financing to its corporate banking and borrower-side representations and is advising Bank Hapoalim on the ILS2bn debt refinancing of Memorand and Leviev Group. It is representing an oil company in a $1.2bn debt financing from Israeli banks and a US bank. Senior partner Zvi Ephrat is recommended, alongside project finance expert Moriel Matalon and chairman Pinhas Rubin.

Gross, Kleinhendler, Hodak, Halevy, Greenberg & Co. offers ‘very professional, expert and expedient service, combined with commercial and banking understanding and orientation’. The firm is a primary adviser to FIBI and FIBI Holdings, as well as Bank Mizrahi-Tefahot and Dexia Israel Bank. It advised Kanit Investments on acquiring a 5% stake in Bank Leumi. David Hodak, Ofer Hanoh and Ehud Alfassi are recommended.

Yehuda Raveh & Co.’s busy financing practice mixes lender and borrower activity with regulatory advice. It recently represented a major Israeli bank on a $250m loan and acted for borrowers on credit facilities totalling $1.3bn. Lisa Tross heads the department, while Yehuda Glatt leads on project finance.

Yigal Arnon & Co’s ‘excellent’ and ‘very professional’ practice represented CitiGroup Global Marketing on a CHF330m credit facility for Koor Industries and advised Bank Hapoalim on the $113m financing for Altice Securities’ acquisition of Mirs. Other clients include FIBI, IDB, ISDA, Mercantile Discount Bank and two Swiss banks. Shiri Shaham is highly regarded, and Amnon Lorch and Simon Weintraub are also recommended.

Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM)’s ‘very good’ team acts for lenders and borrowers on financing, especially in the energy sector. It represented Clal Finance as lender on renewable energy financing; RBS on a $59m loan to Israel Electric Corporation; and Banco Votorantim on a loan to the Brazilian subsidiary of an Israeli projects company. Other clients include Barclays, Citibank and Turkey’s ISH Bank. Amnon Epstein is ‘very smart, has good connections and wide international experience, and thinks outside the box’.

‘Warmly recommended,’ Fischer Behar Chen Well Orion & Co offers high-calibre advice to corporate clients, most notably representing Eurocom Group in procuring ILS4.6bn syndicated financing as a key part of its acquisition of a controlling stake in Bezeq. The firm continues to advise government-owned M.I. Holdings on bank privatisation, selling 5% of IDB to Deutsche Bank for ILS435m. It also advised Visa Cal on commercial and regulatory issues. Avraham Well is an ‘expert in corporate and finance law who provides practical advice’.

Meitar Liquornik Geva & Leshem Brandwein represents many investment banks – including Barclays Capital, Citibank, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and HSBC – on capital markets activities and structured products work but is not, as yet, a key destination for major lender-side financing instructions. On borrower-side instructions, it advised Altice Securities on Mirs acquisition financing. Cliff Felig and Noam Sharon are recommended.

Naschitz, Brandes & Co. is renowned for fund formation and management expertise, and its activities include representing funds as non-banking lenders to corporate borrowers. It advised KCPS Manof Funds on a ILS50m loan to Zur Shamir Holdings and Plenus Mezzanine on a ILS50m loan to Isal Amlat. Other clients include Giza Venture Capital and the private equity fund, FIMI. Sharon Amir and Aaron Lampert are recommended.

Yaacov Salomon, Lipschutz & Co supports banks – such as Arab Israel Bank, Bank Leumi, BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole – and branches on loan documentation, refinancing, restructuring and liquidation, and advises European banks on cross-border financings. Oren Harpaz is recommended.

Zellermayer Pelossof Rosovsky Tsafrir Toledano & Co.’s borrower-oriented practice represents large private equity investors and corporates on financing and refinancing. It acted for regular client Apax Partners on $1bn financing for the Tnuva acquisition. Michael Zellermayer is recommended.