February Edition 2021

25 Stephen Alicanti, Partner, DLA Piper LLP (US) DEFINING DEAL OF 2020 ARKO Holdings Ltd. and Haymaker Acquisition Corp. II On the other side of the deal was DLA Piper LLP (US), whose partner Stephen Alicanti also chose the same deal. It was DLA Piper’s client - Haymaker Acquisition Corp. II, which combined with ARKO. This particular transaction was extremely significant because it was the first SPAC transaction in Israel involving a public company traded on the TASE, paving the way for other Israeli public companies to become dual-listed by way of SPAC transactions going forward. SPAC transactions have been a major trend for the past year or so and many Israeli companies have been opting for the SPAC route over the more traditional IPO route to go public. Doni Toledano, Head of M&A and Banking & Finance, Erdinast, Ben Nathan, Toledano & Co. DEFINING DEAL OF 2020 Merger of Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Ltd. with Union Bank of Israel Ltd. The landmark NIS 1.4 Billion (USD 400 million) where we acted for Mizrahi- TefahotBankLtdwasa rare transaction for two reasons,One,banksareheavily regulated in terms of their Capital Adequacy Ratio, their financial monitoring and stability. Accordingly, they are ordinarily self-sufficient and don’t require mergers. Two, regulators previously attempted to prevent mergers between banks for anti-competitive reasons. There were many issues to address but this was also a historical case of such significance – in which the Competition Court overturned the ruling of the Antitrust Commissioner and allowed the merger to proceed despite the regulator’s objection.”