Gornitzky & Co

Chairman: Mr Pinhas Rubin

Managing Partner: Lior Porat and Kfir Yadgar

Number of partners: 110

Number of lawyers: 271

Languages: English, Hebrew, French, Italian, Arabic, German, Spanish, Russian, Farsi, Portuguese, Afrikaans

Firm Overview:

Founded in 1938, Gornitzky & Co. has been involved in many of the largest and most complex transactions to transpire in Israel and has played a key role in the development of Israel’s economy and legal practice. Gornitzky & Co. is consistently rated by leading international legal guides as one of Israel’s leading law firms in multiple areas of law and is well-known for its extensive experience in all areas of commercial law. The unique, multi-disciplinary approach allows the firm to provide its domestic and international clients with the full gamut of legal services, serving as a legal ‘premium one-stop-shop’, for all of their business activities. The firm provides legal services to a significant number of Israel’s key players, including various governmental entities, Israel’s leading business groups and multinational corporations operating in Israel.

Main Areas of Practice:

-Administrative

-Antitrust & Competition

-Arbitration & Mediation

-Australia Desk

-Banking & Finance

-Capital Markets & Securities

-China Desk

-Class Actions & Derivative Suits

-Clean-tech

-Commercial Litigation involving Family Law

-Corporate

-Cyber-Security & Data Protection

-Energy & Natural Resources

-Environment

-Executive Compensation & Employee Benefit Plans

-FinTech

-Global Compliance and Cross-Border Investigations

-Hotels, Travel & Leisure

-Infrastructure & Project Finance

-Intellectual Property

-International Arbitration & Transactional Litigation

-Labour

-Life Sciences

-Litigation & Dispute Resolution

-Mergers & Acquisitions

-Municipal Taxation

-Non-Profit Organisations

-Private Equity & Venture Capital

-Public International Law

-Real-Estate & Construction

-Restructuring & Insolvency

-Tax

-Technology

-Telecoms & Media

-Transportation

-Trusts, Estates & Private Wealth Management

-White Collar Crime

Corporate/M&A:

■ Services cover all stages and aspects of a corporation’s lifecycle, including the formation of companies, share capital and shareholders’ rights matters, annual and periodical meetings, corporate governance and compliance issues, as well as liquidation processes

■ Represents buyers, sellers and target companies in M&A transactions. The firm acts as lead counsel for some of the world’s largest multinational corporations and private equity funds in Israeli acquisitions, and as local counsel for leading international law firms in their Israeli transactions

■ Representation of Israeli companies in cross-border acquisitions in the US, Europe, and the Far East

■ Advice on structuring to maximise corporate and tax advantages, including restructuring transactions, such as restructuring by corporate finance transactions (buy-outs, M&A, new equity investment, etc.), structured receiverships and restructurings through insolvency processes

Capital Markets & Securities:

■ The firm has recently advised Israeli and foreign issuers, banks, investors and underwriters on all legal aspects of public offerings and private placements on worldwide stock exchanges, totalling billions of USD

■ Representation of clients in complex capital markets related legal matters, including public and private offerings of debt and equity securities, rights, convertible and structured securities, as well as listing securities on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, implementation of Israel Securities Authority directives, and more

■ Clients include some of the largest public companies in Israel (global insurance companies, international banks and more), as well as smaller issuers, investment banks, underwriters, nominated advisors and brokers

■ Representation of Israeli and foreign companies, underwriters and selling shareholders in all legal aspects of raising capital on foreign stock exchanges, including NASDAQ, NYSE and London Stock Exchange

Litigation & Dispute Resolution:

■ Representation of Israeli and foreign companies, corporations, individuals and many publicly traded companies before all judicial bodies, including the Israeli Supreme Court, the High Court of Justice and arbitration tribunals (in Israel and abroad)

■ Experts in intricate commercial disputes over multiple jurisdictions, with experience in all types of litigation disputes, such as contractual, project related and shareholders’ disputes, labour law, derivative suits, administrative and environmental proceedings, as well as mediation

■ White-collar crime legal experts in offences relating to securities, insider trading, money laundering, tax offenses, banking, fraudulence, insurance, antitrust, customs, labour laws, zoning and construction, business licensing, and more

■ Handled over 70 class action cases of substantial financial scope, the majority of which have culminated in victory for the firm’s clients or in withdrawal of the claim by the opposing party

Tax:

■ Development of tax-efficient structures for transnational projects, M&A, complex reorganisations, leveraged buyouts, spinoffs and liquidations

■ Innovative international tax planning, including aspects arising from cross-border transactions, intra-group arrangements, multi-jurisdictional activities

■ Representation vis-à-vis the Israel Tax Authority in negotiations, requests for pre-rulings, and civil and criminal tax litigation and appeals

■ Advising high-net worth individuals, trusts and estates on worldwide tax matters, including tax planning following immigration to/from Israel and multi-generational transfer of assets

■ Additional tax expertise includes VAT, transfer pricing, real estate taxation and voluntary disclosure programs

Banking & Finance:

■ Representation of some of Israel’s largest commercial banks, insurance companies, provident funds and other institutional lenders, as well as foreign financial institutions operating in Israel. Other key clients include leveraged buyout sponsors, private equity funds, hedge funds, strategic buyers, issuers of securities and financial institutions, as well as the private sector

■ Extensive experience in a variety of financings, such as leveraged, asset-backed, mezzanine, investment, senior and subordinated, as well as lease and real estate financings

■ Legal advice concerning a variety of regulatory matters concerning banks and control holders of banks, as well as in the acquisition of banks and their representation before governmental committees

Technology:

■ As the market develops, the firm’s technology and life sciences practice continually grows to advise on the increasing challenges faced by its clients. The firm’s lawyers have expertise and experience in a variety of intellectual property and technology-related transactions including all aspect of the business life cycle, such as structuring and negotiating agreements involving the development and commercialisation of IP assets, as well as strategic alliances, OEM, and other such corporate partnering agreements

■ The firm delivers the full range of legal solutions to meet the needs of international software, hardware, communications, internet, life sciences and clean-tech businesses operating worldwide

■ Lawyers possess in-depth understanding and experience in structuring and negotiating information technology transactions of varying scope and complexity, from worldwide software development, licensing and outsourcing agreements, to end-user licenses

Real Estate & Construction:

■ Representation of some of Israel’s largest land development and construction companies, and land owner associations in large-scale real-estate projects

■ Specialisation in matters concerning zoning, investments, developments, expropriations. Typical representations include acquisitions, disposals, lettings, general management, work, relocations, corporate support, property finance, security work and real estate litigation such as the construction of highways, tunnels, desalination plants etc.

■ The firm represents leading hotel chains in the purchase and construction of new hotels, as well as leading shopping mall groups, in all income producing property transactions

Projects & Energy:

■ Involvement in most major infrastructure and energy transactions in Israel, and in their financings

■ Comprehensive knowledge in all aspects pertaining to: Energy and natural resource projects, including gas, oil, electricity, thermo-solar, PV, wind and bio-mass; Industrial projects, such as water desalination facilities and pneumatic sewage systems; transportation, including roads, railway projects, tunnels and the rehabilitation of roads; and Non-commercial projects, such as a police academy, an IDF training centre, student dormitories, prison facilities, etc

■ Clientele includes Israeli and foreign energy corporations, major IPP’s and international consortia, as well as chemical companies, desalination plants, oil companies, private investors and other energy players. The firm also represents the Israeli government, as well as Israeli and foreign investors, and construction and infrastructure companies

Contact: Adi Nahmias

Tel: +972 3 710 9191

Email: [email protected]