Israel has one of the highest concentrations of corporate
power in the developed world and the Finance Ministry said the
country’s 10 largest business groups controlled 41 percent of
the market value of public companies.

“There is no phenomenon of concentration in the OECD like in
the Israeli economy,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a
news conference where a government panel presented its final
recommendations.

“I am a proponent of competition and against monopolies and
cartels,” said Netanyahu, who as finance minister a decade ago
implemented free market and economic structural reforms.

The main recommendations, which need cabinet and
parliamentary approval, include requiring conglomerates with
significant financial and non-financial assets to divest.

Holding companies structured like pyramids will have to
limit their tiers of subsidiaries in a move designed to change
the current set-up, in which parent companies often own publicly
listed units which in turn have their own listed subsidiaries.

Under the new rules, existing groups will be allowed no more
than three tiers of subsidiaries and new conglomerates two.

Institutional investors must also curb credit issuance.

Companies will have four years to comply with the new rules.
The panel published interim recommendations last September.

Israel’s conglomerates have been partly blamed for driving
up prices of basic goods, leading to mass protests last summer
which are expected to resume in coming weeks. The government is
also under pressure to stem the tide of debt settlements due to
their impact on pensions.

“Today we are talking about concentration, but a very
important factor related to increased competitiveness is
imports,” Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said. “We must
continue to liberalise imports — that is the best way to
increase competitiveness in the economy.”

WHAT TO KEEP, WHAT TO SELL

According to the recommendations, companies cannot hold a
bank or other financial firm with assets above 40 billion
shekels ($11 billion) as well as a non-financial company of more
than 6 billion shekels or revenue.

As a result, the IDB Group would have to divest
Clal Insurance or other key holdings such as Cellcom
, Israel’s largest mobile phone operator. And Delek
Group would have to decide between keeping insurance
company Phoenix and brokerage Excellence Nessuah or
its massive fuel business — which includes a number of offshore
natural gas wells.

Also, private equity firm Apax Partners would need
to choose between food maker Tnuva or the Psagot brokerage.

“This report is not intended as an attack on the business
sector. Everyone realises that the economy cannot be managed on
the basis of government production alone,” said Fischer.

“We have to rely on the business sector, but must ensure
that it operates efficiently and without influencing the
political system.”

Earlier this month, IDB said it planned to merge two of its
intermediate holding companies to simplify its pyramid-type
structure and reduce costs. Discount Investment Corp
would buy the portion of Koor Industries it does not
already own.

The recent discovery of some of the world’s largest
off-shore gas fields has given Israel decades of energy
independence and paved the way for it to become a natural gas
exporter.

But it wants to avoid so-called “Dutch disease” whereby a
sudden explosion in national wealth overheats the currency and
undermines export industries.

“This is to make sure the natural resources are efficiently
and wisely exploited, without hurting jobs and the
competitiveness of the economy, in a long-term, strategic view,”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said after the
cabinet drew up a draft plan for the fund.

The cabinet said much of the state’s tax take from the gas
bonanza would be invested abroad and income from the fund will
be used for “strategic national projects”, including education
and security.

The Tamar and Leviathan gas fields were found in 2009 and
2010 with combined estimated reserves of 26 trillion cubic feet
(tcf) and sparked an exploration frenzy off Israel’s coast.

Further fields could be found and government officials have
said total revenues could reach $130 billion by 2040.

GAS TAX

After months of fiery public debate, Israel last year
imposed a progressive tax of as much as 50 percent on natural
gas profits in addition to a royalties of 12.5 percent.

Major profits are expected to start rolling in only after
Leviathan, the world’s largest off-shore find of the past
decade, begins production in around 2017.

About half of the state’s revenues will be invested in the
fund and then abroad as a “security cushion” to deal with
large-scale events like wars, natural disasters and economic
crises, the prime minister’s office’s statement said.

The fund will be managed by the Bank of Israel and
supervised by the finance Ministry. Each year the prime minister
will approve the transfer of income from the fund into
educational and security projects.

Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer has pushed the
government to create the fund, warning that Israel’s economy,
which has so far weathered the global crisis, could be hurt by
“Dutch disease”, named after the experience of the Netherlands
after its discovery of gas in the North Sea in the 1960s.

As the Dutch currency strengthened it made non-oil exports
less competitive. Manufacturing sectors declined and the economy
soured.

Israel’s fund will be similar that of Norway, which has one
of the world’s largest wealth funds to safeguard its natural gas
revenue, officials said.

A draft of the law will be submitted to a government
committee in the coming weeks, the statement said.

Nice Systems projected another year of double digit revenue
growth to $930-$950 million after a 15 percent rise in revenues
and 20 percent rise in earnings last year. It said its order
book was very healthy.

“Growth this year should come from our business in
analytic-based applications,” Chief Financial Officer Dafna
Gruber told Reuters. “We have the capability to look for
abnormal behaviour in mass amounts of data.”

That could be for anything from making sure call centres
work efficiently to surveillance for security forces trying to
protect buildings and transport networks against attack.

Growth is also expected to come from the 2011 acquisitions
of voice recording unit CyberTech and Fizzback, which helps
businesses understand customer needs. Nice also paid $150
million this month for Merced Systems.

Nice would be looking for further purchases with its $420
million in cash, Gruber said.

Nice’s business grew in Europe, the Middle East and Africa
last year despite Europe’s economic troubles, but 8 percent
growth compared to 30 percent in the Asia-Pacific region and 16
percent in the Americas, where it makes 60 percent of sales.

Nice projected diluted earnings per share excluding one-off
items of $2.28-$2.48 for 2012. That’s above the $892.4 million
in sales and EPS of $2.33 forecast by analysts, according to
Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

In 2011, Nice revenue rose to $798 million. Earnings
excluding items increased to $2.10.

Nice, which also has a security and video surveillance
business, earned 60 cents on a diluted basis ex-items in the
fourth quarter, up from 51 cents in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Revenue grew 14 percent to $214 million.

For the first quarter, Nice predicted revenue of $210-$218
million and adjusted earnings of 50 to 55 cents.

Its Nasdaq shares were flat at $36.71, near a year high of
$38.49 reached last April, at midday.

Gruber said that instead of distributing dividends, Nice
plans to buy back $100 million of its own shares this year, a
similar amount to 2011.

“A severe downturn in 2012 is unlikely … but the output gap will likely reopen a little,” the IMF said in its annual report on Israel, adding much depends on economic developments abroad.

Israel also needs to restrain spending on defence in 2013 and the country may have scope to cut interest rates further, the fund said.

The IMF’s growth projection for this year is roughly in line with the Bank of Israel’s estimate of 2.8 percent and the Finance Ministry’s forecast of 3.2 percent.

Israel’s economy grew 4.8 percent last year, according to preliminary official figures.

The fund said Israel needs to do more to lower its public debt burden, which is high relative to stronger developed and emerging market countries. Part of the problem stems from regional tensions and the need for high military expenses that constrain the budget.

“The top priority is to keep public debt on a downward track over the medium term. This will maintain confidence in Israel despite strained international markets, and so allow some flexibility in the deficit path in the short term,” the IMF said.

It welcomed a decision to phase out a reduction in tax rates and to stick to fiscal discipline in the wake of a wave of social protests last summer.

“These actions have helped to underpin continued investor confidence in the Israeli sovereign in a difficult global environment,” it added.

DEFICIT, RATES IN FOCUS

The IMF forecast Israel’s budget deficit at 3-3.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2012, above a 2 percent target. The Finance Ministry has estimated 3.4 percent due to a shortfall in tax income.

For 2013, the IMF said Israel needs to restrain defence and other spending while seeking ways to raise additional revenues to keep the deficit under control.

The IMF said Israel’s monetary stance was “broadly appropriate” under current forecasts but there could be scope for further rate cuts should the fiscal environment improve.

More cuts would also be needed in the event of a major external shock.

The Bank of Israel has cut its benchmark lending rate to 2.5 percent from 3.25 percent since last September to protect Israel’s economy from a global slowdown — particularly in Israel’s largest trading partner, Europe.

The IMF also recommended that the central bank prepare an exit strategy for its programme of buying foreign currency. Israel bought tens of billions of dollars from March 2008 through July 2011 to boost its reserves and weaken the shekel.

The shekel’s depreciation has made intervention unnecessary since last July.

“While continued use of these instruments is appropriately not ruled out, continued signals that the clear preference is for their use to remain the exception rather than the rule will support the credibility of inflation as the prime target for monetary policy,” the IMF said.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by John Stonestreet)

In one of its most ambitious projects, the government has given the go-ahead for state-run utility Israel Electric Corp (IEC) to find investors to build the network using fiber optic cables, which can provide Internet speeds of 1 gigabit per second — or as much as 100 times what is available now.

“All four groups we have now are big groups with a lot of experience and knowledge,” Tzvi Harpak, vice president of logistics at IEC and head of the tender committee, told Reuters.

Bidders include Sweden’s Viaeurope; defence electronics firm Elbit Systems; Israeli telecom equipment provider BATM Advanced Communications; and RAPAC Communications and Infrastructure.

The winner, to be announced in May after financing is secured, will hold 51 percent of a new private company that will build and operate the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network, with IEC holding 49 percent. The project is estimated to cost billions of shekels to deploy some 25,000 km of fiber optics — 70 percent of which will be above ground to keep costs down.

Harpak aims for deployment to begin in early 2013 with a target to cover two-thirds of Israel by 2020. IEC already has close to 3,000 km of fiber across the country.

“Today’s infrastructure is not enough,” he said. “Content providers and suppliers that are dealing with TV — 3DTV and HDTV — and many other services need (fiber) to make progress.”

Using fiber to the curb and standard copper lines to the home, Bezeq — Israel’s largest telecom group — offers Internet to 1.1 million customers for a 59 percent market share. Cable company HOT has 41 percent.

Both companies offer speeds up to 100 megabits per second but most Israelis surf at speeds of 5-10 megabits, which is deemed adequate for downloading and streaming video and music.

Upload speeds, though, are no more than 1 megabit. With fiber optics, 1 gigabit per second of upload and download can be reached, allowing for improved interactive services.

Israel had other constraints in keeping Internet speeds low, such as just one undersea cable to Cyprus to serve the country. Another undersea cable to Italy has recently begun operation and a third is nearing completion.

DATA EXPLOSION

Eden Bar Tal, director general of Israel’s Communications Ministry, said more bandwidth is needed for cloud computing and Internet TV.

“We know there is a world trend of data explosion and that’s why Google, Amazon and Apple are employing thousands of people to develop new services,” he told Reuters.

“We have to look at Korea and Japan and see that FTTH is a mere fact of the present and not the future,” he said, adding that the fiber network will transform the education and health systems by enabling higher quality video to outlying areas.

South Korea has the highest household penetration of FTTH at 55 percent, followed by Japan at 40 percent and Hong Kong at 39 percent, according to the Fiber to the Home Council. Nearly 8 million North Americans receive their Internet, video and/or voice services through fiber, while FTTH is available in 22 million homes in the United States and Canada.

In the first half of 2011, the number of fiber to the home subscribers in Europe rose 24 percent to about 5 million, led by eastern Europe and Scandinavia. About 40 million homes in Europe are hooked up to fiber, according to the Fiber to the Home Council Europe.

The biggest winners of the fiber deployment are expected to be Israel’s top mobile phone operators, Cellcom and Partner Communications, which bought companies that offer Internet and are believed to want to develop Internet TV.

But they now rely on HOT and Bezeq’s infrastructure, limiting their own offerings, while Bezeq has started its own FTTH trials. Both companies said they welcome new competition.

“The consensus view of analysts and Israeli telecommunications companies is that (fiber to the home) is not going to get off the ground,” said UBS analyst Darren Shaw.

Shaw and other analysts believe investment in a fiber optics network will be too large and return on investment unclear, especially when the Communications Ministry is considering forcing Bezeq and HOT to let Cellcom and Partner use their networks to create immediate competition and lower prices.

“If Bezeq and HOT sell their lines then the market will be full and prices will go down so there is no economic reason to do this,” said Ori Licht, head of research at the IBI Investment House in Tel Aviv. “I don’t give this project a high percentage of success.”

(Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)

The Histadrut labour federation, the umbrella organisation
for hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, said the
strike – estimated at causing economic damage of around $500
million a day – would begin at 0600 (0400 GMT) on Wednesday and
would also include trains, the Bank of Israel and government
offices.

Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv will
be shut only between 0600 and 1200 due to a court order, but the
strike for all other services will be open-ended, the Histadrut
said.

The airport will open two hours early at 0400 and flag
carrier El Al said it pushed up take-offs of 15
flights to Europe to before 0600.

The local federation of chambers of commerce had sought an
injunction against the strike but Israel’s high court on Tuesday
rejected the request.

“There is no reason to prevent the general strike on
Wednesday,” Justice Uzi Fogelman wrote in his decision.

Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini and Finance Minister Yuval
Steinitz met earlier on Tuesday and plan another meeting later
in the day.

“The only weapon workers have is the weapon of a strike,”
Eini said.

Histadrut wants the government to hire some 250,000
contract workers, such as cleaners and security guards, who have
inferior working conditions than workers directly on government
payrolls.

The Finance Ministry said it cannot take on so many new
workers but has offered to improve their conditions by raising
salaries by at least 20 percent while giving more holiday time.

“The strike is unnecessary and would have enormous
consequences on the economy,” a ministry spokeswoman said.

Last November, Histadrut held a strike for the same reason
but Israel’s labour court limited the action to just four hours
and ordered the two sides to work out a deal.

Negotiations failed to produce an agreement and the court,
until now, had rejected a number of strike requests.

Both sides must reappear in court at 1200 GMT on Wednesday
to report on the status of negotiations.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer)

But Zion Kenan could still face punishment by Israeli
banking regulators.

Last February, Israeli police recommended that the state
prosecutor indict Kenan on breach of trust and fraud charges.

The state’s attorney “has decided to close the investigation
against Zion Kenan … due to insufficient evidence,” it said in
a statement.

The police’s fraud unit investigated Kenan and former
Hapoalim Chairman Dan Dankner over the approval of a loan
extended to Dankner in 2008, when Kenan held a senior position
at Hapoalim but was not yet CEO.

With Kenan’s help, in October 2008 Danker received approval
for a $3.4 million loan from the committee for transactions with
parties connected to Hapoalim. Prosecutors had suspected Kenan
did not tell the truth to committee members.

“After studying and analysing the evidence gathered in the
investigation, the deputy state prosecutor decided … there is
not enough evidence at the high level of proof required in
criminal proceedings to prove that Kenan lied to committee
members,” the attorney general’s office said on Tuesday.

However, justice officials believe there were some
improprieties by Kenan so the findings have been sent to the
Bank of Israel’s Supervisor of Banks.

Shares of Hapoalim, Israel’s largest bank by outstanding
credit and market value, were up 2.2 percent in afternoon
trading to outpace gains of 1.3 percent on the broader Tel Aviv
bourse.

“This (case dismissal) is good news for the bank since it
will not have to go through an upheaval in its management,” said
Adi Scop, an analyst at the IBI Investment House.

“At a time of an economic slowdown and financial crisis in
Europe, the last thing the bank needs on its head is loss of
trust in its management. There is still no last word by the Bank
of Israel but I believe Kenan and Bank Hapoalim can breathe
easily.”

Dankner became chairman of Hapoalim in 2007 and stepped down
in 2009 after a two-month battle with banking regulators who
demanded his resignation. At the time, the Bank of Israel said
it was unhappy with disagreements between Dankner and former
chief executive Zvi Ziv that led to Ziv’s resignation in 2009.
Ziv was replaced by Kenan.

(Additional reporting by Tova Cohen; Editing by Erica
Billingham)

Partner said in a statement Ben-Dov — also the
controlling shareholder — intends to continue to serve as a
director of Partner and that the board will discuss appointing a
new chairman in the next few days.

The company did not give a reason for Ben-Dov’s resignation
or state when he would end his term.

Partner’s shares were down 1.6 percent at midday in Tel Aviv
compared with a flat broader marker.

Ben-Dov controls Partner, which operates under the Orange
brand name, through stakes in Scailex and its parent
Suny Electronics.

Scailex, the sole importer of Samsung mobile handsets in
Israel, holds 44.54 percent of Partner’s shares while Suny has
an additional 1.4 percent.

Ori Licht, an analyst at the IBI Investment House, said
investors would ultimately approve of Ben-Dov’s decision to step
down since reports in the Israeli media about problems with his
other businesses were weighing on its shares.

“Ben-Dov apparently decided to take a step back and remain
an owner and a director but not the man who stands up front and
represents the face of the company,” Licht said.

He noted that Partner’s main rival, Cellcom
, was trading at a 20 percent premium to Partner, which
the market calls the “Ben-Dov premium.”

Last month, debt-laden Scailex said it was seeking to sell
an unspecified amount of shares in Partner to a strategic
partner, while maintaining control, to shore up its balance
sheet.

Scailex bought a controlling stake in Partner from Hutchison
Telecommunications in 2009 for $1.38 billion, or
$17.50 per share, well above Friday’s closing price on Nasdaq of
$9.02.

Scailex’s debt is estimated at more than 3 billion shekels
($781 million). In recent weeks, the Israeli units of Standard &
Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service both cut its ratings citing
less than adequate liquidity.

Scailex has also failed in an attempt to sell 50 percent of
its import and distribution activities for Samsung mobile
phones.

Israel’s corporate sector has seen a wave of top executives
announcing plans to step down. Israel Chemicals
President and Chief Executive Akiva Mozes is to go after 13
years in the job. Bank Leumi CEO Galia
Maor said she will step down after 16 years, while Shlomo Yanai
will leave in May after five years as president and CEO of Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries <TEVA.TA.

The transformation — which hinges on Jeremy Levin picking a handful of winning new products to boost Teva’s branded portfolio — is unlikely to happen overnight.

In hunting for potentially lucrative experimental medicines, Levin will be competing with a wide field of rivals, including the world’s biggest pharmaceutical manufacturers, most of whom are hungry for new drugs to refill pipelines depleted by patent expirations.

Levin, senior vice president for strategy, alliances and transactions at Bristol-Myers since 2007, will take the reins at Teva in May in the wake of Shlomo Yanai’s surprising resignation after five years at the helm.

Teva’s shares jumped 3.3 percent on the news on Monday in Tel Aviv, an indication that investors were unhappy with Yanai — who engineered a number of large acquisitions — and sought a change in direction that included a strategy to replace its top-selling multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone.

Analysts believe the move to change CEOs had been in the works for months since Teva’s share performance has been poor and Teva Chairman Phillip Frost said the process to find a successor to Yanai took almost all of last year and that the transition process should be orderly.

The South African-born, Cambridge-educated Levin, global head of business development and strategic alliances at Novartis from 2003 to 2007, has so far declined to give any specifics on his strategy for Israel-based Teva, citing the need to complete a “deep dive” in the next few months.

But he told analysts on a conference call on Tuesday that there was no difference between generic and proprietary drugs.

“I have a deep philosophy in that medicines are medicines. It does not matter whether they are branded or generic,” Levin said. “The key question is can you make the affordable and can you provide them to patients.”

Teva’s Nasdaq shares were up 6.5 percent at $42.97 on Tuesday, still nearly 40 percent below a year’s high of $57.08 on January 26, 2011.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Teva’s sliding price/earnings ratio: link.reuters.com/tyb85s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“STRING OF PEARLS”

Many analysts believe Teva’s shares could be poised for a rebound after its Nasdaq shares fell 21 percent in 2011 to underperform the drugs sector.

“Levin comes from a Bristol-Myers management team that has substantially turned around the company, has been very shareholder friendly and is very well regarded by (Wall) Street,” JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott wrote in a client note.

“Clearly, we will have to watch for any further changes in Teva’s strategy as Levin moves into his new role but after a difficult year for Teva shares, we believe the transition will be well received,” added Schott, who rates Teva as “overweight” with a $55 price target.

At Bristol-Myers, Levin implemented a “string of pearls” strategy of alliances, partnerships and acquisitions with small and large companies — a policy he is expected to continue at Teva as it looks for a way that its branded business can grow.

Levin’s appointment “clearly signals that Teva will remain acquisitive in building its brand business but at an appropriate scale since Levin will likely attempt to recreate his ‘string-of-pearls’ success,” said Barclays Capital’s Douglas Tsao.

As a result, additional large acquisitions that propelled Teva to the world’s largest maker of copycat medicines are unlikely, and could prompt the company to back off its ambitious target of $31 billion in sales by 2015.

Teva, which has a market value of $36 billion, is forecast to post sales of $22 billion in 2012, $12 billion coming from generic drugs. Nearly $4 billion is projected from Copaxone, whose sales are forecast to peak this year.

Copaxone, an injected drug, now accounts for 23.5 percent of total sales, compared with 19 percent a year ago and faces competition from a variety of oral MS treatments that are available or are expected to hit the market in the coming years.

Novartis’ recently launched drug Gilenya is the first oral MS drug to reach the market while Biogen Idec’s experimental drug BG-12, if approved, promises to become a leading treatment for MS. Teva’s own experimental MS pill laquinimod missed its main goal in a late-stage trial in what was seen as a major setback.

Analysts also expect fewer generic blockbuster drugs to hit the market starting on 2013 in another hit to Teva.

EMERGING MARKETS FOCUS

Through Cephalon, Teva has about 30 branded drugs in various stages of development and clinical trial and analysts expect Levin to ultimately decide which of them to push more aggressively.

“Teva’s success in the branded business remains an open question in the coming years,” Jonathan Kreizman, an analyst at the Clal Finance brokerage said, citing the failure of Parkinson’s disease drug Azilect. “The generics and branded businesses are very different and Teva will have to prove itself like it did in generics.

“Developing drugs is more risky and different than imitating drugs,” he said.

Another focus for Teva will be to continue expanding in emerging markets.

“These are markets that are becoming increasingly sophisticated … and it is very important for every company in the industry to understand how they will penetrate these markets,” Levin said. “I do not think that this is something that should wait for the long term.

“I am very very interested and regard this as an important contributory leg to building a global company … It is something I will be looking very carefully at.”

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

Yanai, 59, said on Monday he would step down in May after
five years as president and CEO of the Israel-based company and
was mulling opportunities in both the private and public sector.

During his tenure, Teva’s revenue jumped to an expected $22
billion in 2012 from $8.4 billion in 2006, partly on a number of
large acquisitions of companies including Barr, Ratiopharm and
Cephalon, as well as through expansion into emerging markets.

However, Natali Gotlieb, an analyst at IBI Investment House,
said Yanai was not a favourite of investors. “For some time now
there have been voices among investors calling for Yanai to step
aside. So while the timing of the announcement … may be
surprising, the move itself is not,” she said.

Gotlieb, who rates Teva a “buy”, said that despite Yanai’s
successes, investors were unhappy that Teva has not been quick
enough in finding a substitute product for multiple sclerosis
treatment Copaxone, which is facing competition.

Shares of Teva, which has a market value of $36 billion on
Nasdaq, closed 3.3 percent higher in Tel Aviv after dropping
more than 20 percent in 2011. Its Nasdaq shares have slid more
than 40 percent to $40.36 from a year high of $57.08 on Jan. 26,
2011.

“From here on … we are going to leverage our strengths and
look to generate growth beyond what has been accomplished,” the
South African-born Levin said at a news conference.

Levin, 58, declined to elaborate on his vision for the
Israeli-based company, saying he hadn’t yet started the job.

“The basic principle I will be adopting will be to build on
the strengths that have been built before,” said Levin, who had
been senior vice president for strategy, alliances and
transactions at Bristol-Myers since 2007.

SALES GOAL

Yanai had set a goal of reaching $31 billion in sales by
2015, while the company last month said it would buy back $3
billion of its shares.

Teva is the world’s largest maker of generic medicines but
has also been successful in the branded sector, mostly with
Copaxone, which is forecast to generate sales of nearly $4
billion in 2012.

“We don’t feel there is such a division between generic
drugs and proprietary drugs,” said Teva Chairman Phillip Frost.
“We will continue to build on the strength of our wonderful
generics business … and we will grow (the proprietary drugs
business) as well.

“We go where the opportunities are. The generics business
itself has enormous growth potential but on the other hand, the
branded drug side is also open ended,” Frost told Reuters after
the news conference.

Steven Tepper, an analyst at Harel Finance who also rates
Teva as a “buy” with a $55 price target, said Levin’s
appointment was “very positive news for the company … Dr.
Levin has a lot of experience in the global pharma industry and
he brings relevant experience that would advance Teva and put in
the club of the 10 largest pharmaceutical giants.”

Frost said the process to find a successor to Yanai, who was
not asked to leave, took almost all of last year. He said he
expects the transition to be orderly.

Levin has more than 25 years of experience in the global
pharmaceuticals industries and is a leader in creating
commercial and research and development alliances, Teva said.

The Cambridge and Oxford-educated Levin is a physician and
had also worked at Novartis AG.