CTech's Tuesday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Under PepsiCo, SodaStream’s marketing-savvy CEO says he is not going to pipe down. Once the target of SodaStream’s marketing barbs, PepsiCo announced it will acquire the Israeli outfit Monday. In an interview with Calcalist SodaStream’s CEO said he has no intention to start playing nice. Read more

Blockchain group First looking to raise over $40 million round. First Group has already raised $22 million towards securing the funding from investors including Sir Ronald Cohen, TargetGlobal, and Mangrove. Read more

Fortissimo Capital to buy 30% of water treatment company IDE. Fortissimo will acquire the stake from Israel-based Delek Group, which owns 50% of IDE through a subsidiary. Read more

Israeli government steps away from Windows, MS Office deal citing increased costs. Israel has decided not to renew its licenses for Microsoft products beginning in 2019, Israel’s Ministry of Finance announced Tuesday. Read more

Africa’s Liquid Telecom makes offer for communication company Satcom. The data service provider is reportedly awaiting regulatory approval for its acquisition of Zambian company Hai Telecom. Read more

Analysis | The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange the day after PepsiCo’s SodaStream acquisition. On Monday, soft drink giant PepsiCo announced it is acquiring at-home carbonation products maker company SodaStream for $3.2 billion, meaning that the dually listed company’s days on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange are numbered. Read more

News Briefs

NICE announces closing of Mattersight acquisition. Read more  

Salesforce finalizes acquisition of marketing analytics company Datorama. Read more