Clairfield International expands to Israel

Clairfield International is pleased to announce that Avalon Capital has joined Clairfield International as its exclusive partner for Israel.

The new Clairfield Israel, based in Tel Aviv, was founded in 2004. It began its activities advising Israeli companies on IPOs on London AIM. The firm later became a full-service advisory firm and began to provide advisory services on private placements, M&A, and IPO advisory for AIM and NASDAQ listings. Today Avalon Capital has a special focus on crossborder M&A. The firm’s clients include many venture-backed and private equity companies. It has particular strength in technology, media, and telecom, medical devices, and industrials.

Clairfield Israel is headed by Joseph Sabet. Joseph has 25 years of international experience in venture capital and investment banking. Prior to founding Avalon Capital, he served as a partner at Catalyst Investments, an Israeli-European venture fund. During his tenure, Joseph was responsible for most of the firm’s investments and grew the portfolio until a series of successful exits, including the sale of PowerDsine to Microsemi Corporation, Scopus Networks to Harmonic and the sale of OREX CR to Kodak.

According to the IVC Research Center, most crossborder M&A involving Israeli companies was with the US, with only 10% of Israeli exits with European acquirors. Joseph believes that this market geography is underserved both for Israeli exits and outbound acquisitions by Israeli corporations in the middle market. In particular, PE funds and multinationals worldwide continue their buy-and-build strategies, and deal flow that includes the Israeli market is crucial to the TMT sector.

“Since crossborder M&A is our firm’s sole focus, it is crucial to work with the right partners abroad,” said Joseph. “Clairfield offers access to all major economies with a philosophy of dedication of senior management to M&A processes and a spirit of entrepreneurship that is extremely appreciated by Israeli companies.”

Alexander Klemm, vice-chairman of Clairfield International said “We are pleased to welcome an Israeli partner who brings us additional expertise in the technology sector and knowledge of Israeli players on both the sellside and increasingly as buyers as well.”