TEL AVIV | By Tova Cohen
REUTERS - Thu May 14, 2015
When one of
China's biggest food companies was looking to boost its dairy output it
turned to Israel's tiny market, paying about $1.1 billion for control of
the country's largest food maker.
Even though the company Tnuva is focused on the Israeli market, China's
Bright Food was attracted to its efficiency in milk production and
cutting-edge technology in quality control for use in China, where
demand for dairy products is surging.
The deal is the latest example of how M&A activity in Israel is
shifting from the booming high-tech sector, which has been the focus for
nearly two decades and is now valued at some $40 billion, or nearly 13
percent of gross domestic product.
High-tech firms are increasingly going for listings rather than seeking
buyers, but Israel's reputation as a center for innovation is rubbing
off on more traditional industries.
Firms with a niche, a high level of exports or efficient production
processes, such as Tnuva, are attracting buyers, particularly from Asia."Clearly one of the things interesting investors is that they are
buying some sort of innovation," said Adir Waldman of Freshfields
Bruckhaus Deringer, a law firm that represented Bright Food in the Tnuva
deal, which closed a month ago.
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