Mobileye deal boosts Israeli high-tech exits to $23B in 2017

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli high-tech acquisitions and initial public offering activity soared to $23 billion in 2017 from $10 billion in 2016 due to the $15.3 billion purchase of Mobileye by Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC), data published on Wednesday showed.

The acquisition of Neuroderm by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma for $1.1 billion also boosted the volume of exits - including M&A, IPOs and buyouts - last year, according to the Israel Venture Capital Research Center and the Meitar law firm.

The total number of exits decreased by 7 percent to 112 deals in 2017 yet the number of exits over $100 million rose.

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"Alongside a 60 percent increase in the number of exits of large amounts, we also see an increase in large capital raisings," Meitar partner Alon Sahar said. "This figure supports the thesis that both entrepreneurs and investors are trying to establish bigger companies."

There were 13 IPOs that raised a total of $440 million in 2017, compared with none the previous year. Only ForeScout Technologies (NASDAQ:FSCT) raised money on Nasdaq, with the rest on alternative markets.

(Reporting by Tova Cohen, Editing by Ari Rabinovitch)