CTech’s Wednesday Roundup of Israeli Tech News

Israel set to approve export of cannabis. The approval of medical cannabis export was included in an overall cannabis reform approved by the Israeli government in 2016, but was later halted due to a ministerial dispute. A major hurdle for the approval of cannabis exports had been the opposition of the Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, who has now consented to a revised plan, due to be submitted to government approval in the coming days. Israel's Ministry of Finance estimates the Israeli cannabis export industry could be worth $1.1 billion annually. Read more

World's largest asset manager BlackRock to enter Israeli market. On Wednesday, the New York-based corporation published a new prospectus for a mutual fund to be offered to the Israeli public. BlackRock has around $6.2 trillion assets under management. Read more

An Israeli Cannabis farm. Photo: Miram Oren

After making 22 acquisitions in under two year, flavor and fragrance company Frutarom is now an acquisition target. Israel-based Frutarom has been approached by several entities regarding a possible acquisition deal. U.S.-based International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) is one of the interested parties. Possible deals value Frutarom at $6-$6.5 billion. Read more

Netflix acknowledges security flaw that puts Gmail users at risk. The flaw utilizes a little-known Gmail feature in order to trick users into putting in their credit card information and paying for someone else’s Netflix subscription. Read more

Apple under investigation in Israel for forced iPhone slowdown. Israel’s Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority is investigating Apple Israel for suspicion of consumer fraud regarding the company’s recent iPhone battery performance scandal. Read more

Teddy Sagi Group consolidates real estate activity under one London roof. In the company’s first acquisition under newly-appointed CEO Noam Moravsky, LabTech also announced it had acquired 90 High Holborn, a 215,000 square foot (20,000 square meters) building in central London, for £200 Million (around $283 million). Read more

How to position your startup for acquisitions. Israeli venture capitalist Amit Karp shares his tips for startups laying the foundations for a possible future acquisition. Read more 

Israeli defense contractor Elbit buys U.S.-based Universal Avionics for $120 million. Universal Avionics develops and manufactures flight management systems and cockpit technologies. It will operate as a U.S.-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Elbit. In March, Calcalist reported that Elbit received U.S. government approval to acquire Universal Avionics. Read more

Intec Pharma announces public offering of ordinary shares on Nasdaq. The pharmaceutical company is currently listed on Nasdaq and on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Investment firm Oppenheimer & Co.will serve as the sole book-running manager. Read more