CTech’s Weekly Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Permira to Buy Cisco’s Video Unit for $1 Billion. A company backed by private equity firm Permira Holdings has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cisco Systems' video software unit NDS Group, the companies announced Tuesday. Based on the acquisition, Permira will create a new company focused on developing and delivering video solutions for the pay-TV industry. Read more

Analysis: new owners want NDS to help Pay-TV go from defense to offense. Permira, having agreed to buy Cisco’s video unit earlier this week, hopes to offer clients technologies that would help it grow in the face of competition from streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Read more

Alibaba's Jack Ma in Israel. In a visit to the country, Mr. Ma met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and with local tech investors and entrepreneurs. On Thursday, Mr. Ma received an honorary doctorate from the Tel Aviv University. Speaking at the event, Mr. Ma said his first ever search on the internet was "beer" and when he couldn't find information about Chinese beers he started putting information about China and Chinese companies online. Had he written a book, Mr. Ma said, it would have been “Alibaba’s 1001 Mistakes.” Read more   

American food corporation Tyson backs Israeli lab meat startup. Jerusalem-based Future Meat Technologies aims to reduce the costs of producing meat in laboratories to $5 per kilogram. Read more

Court ruling could see multinationals pay more taxes in Israel. Last week, Israel’s supreme court confirmed a previous ruling that states options provided to Israeli employees as call options must be taken into account when calculating taxable profit. Over 300 multinational companies operate local research and development outposts in Israel, accounting for 50% of the overall investment in research and development in the country. Read more

Vector Capital buys 25% stake in dark web monitoring company KELA. Tel Aviv-based KELA develops automated technology for monitoring dark websites. Its system automatically scans a chosen set of sources and threats, giving immediate notification of compromised, company-specific information, such as employee or customer details, email addresses, and passwords. The acquisition was made at a company valuation of $200 million. Read more

Intel to receive $380 million grant from Israel for expanding local chip manufacturing. The government has approved Intel's plan on a conditional basis but Intel still has to submit a detailed plan. In February, Yaniv Garty, CEO of Intel's operations in Israel, announced the company's intention to expand its local manufacturing with a $5 billion investment in Intel's existing chip and processor plant in southern Israeli town Kiryat Gat. A previous $6 billion expansion of the factory, approved in 2014, netted the company a $300 million grant. Read more

CVC in talks to buy medical laser company Lumenis. Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners is in advanced negotiations for the acquisition of Israel-based medical and aesthetic laser company Lumenis Ltd., offering $800 million to $900 million. In January, Bloomberg reported XIO is looking to sell the company. The same month, The Wall Street Journal reported Lumenis is at the heart of a lawsuit between XIO and Chinese billionaire Zhikun Xie. Read more

Building on strong first quarter, Teva raises 2018 outlook. On Thursday, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries published its first quarter results for 2018. The company reported a 10% decrease in revenues compared to 2017, largely due to North American Copaxone troubles, but beat analyst expectations and raised its full-year guidance for its earnings per share and free cash flow. Read more