Yigal Arnon & Co. has extensive experience with projects, infrastructure and energy relating to privatization and private-sector involvement in public projects. We also have a thoroughgoing and practical understanding of municipal, national and international projects, and have vast experience with competitive bidding processes and tenders, both as representatives of the issuing government agency and as lawyers for foreign or Israeli companies bidding in such tenders.
As a full-service, multidisciplinary law firm, we are able to employ the full range of expertise—for example, in tender law, litigation, tax and real estate law—as needed to deliver the best results for our clients.
A consistently top-ranked law firm in this arena we:
We have many years of experience with foreign clients who are looking to get involved in commercial and other activities in Israel and have earned a first-rate reputation for our representation of public sector entities.
We also have considerable know-how and experience working with public agencies and the public sector, including in permit and licensing, regulatory and legislative matters.
Yigal Arnon & Co. is at the forefront of project finance in Israel. Our familiarity with the economic and legal interests of the key players positions us to help our clients to efficiently meet their objectives.
We have extensive project finance experience in infrastructure, electricity production, roads, light rail, water and sewage treatment and waste treatment. Our track record is similarly extensive when it comes to working with government entities and agencies in the framework of tenders, international projects, project finance and privatization. Our practice groups are proficient in private and public financing arrangements, including BOT (build-operate-transfer), PFI (public finance initiative) and BOO (build-own-operate).
We have represented the banking sector in several projects and have often worked with public authorities and the public sector. In addition, we have represented Israeli and foreign banks in claims, complex finance transactions and financial engagements with concessionaires.
Yigal Arnon & Co. is recognized as a leading adviser on tender and infrastructure projects. We have played a role in numerous large infrastructure and transportation projects in the last few years, including those involving light rail, clean energy, energy, roads and water.
Our capabilities have been enriched by representing all parties in these projects, which are mostly performed through public tenders. In large public tenders, we represent the tender-issuing government office (for example, the Finance Ministry, Transportation Ministry, Ministry of National Infrastructure and Ministry of Public Security) or the private companies and groups on the bidding side. (There is a firewall between the teams that work in these different areas.) In other tenders, we represent the financing banks. We have the know-how for all tender stages, from drafting and prequalification to performance on the ground.
Our public-sector lawyers have all the relevant legal and project-related capabilities. As a result, they can offer the appropriate professional coverage to the tendering committees and task teams charged with managing the projects and their scope.
Our lawyers who assist private-sector clients have the specific skills needed to draft tender bids in accordance with the required criteria, while emphasizing the bidding client’s strengths.
The tenders in which our firm have participated include the light rail lines in Jerusalem (the Red and Green Lines) and in Tel Aviv (the operational tender for the Red Line, and planning and construction tenders for the Red, Green and Purple Lines), the Metronit public transportation project in Haifa, many bus line (“privatization”) tenders, and construction of thermo-solar and photovoltaic plants, automated electronic enforcement, natural gas, hospital construction, prison construction, sewage treatment, water treatment, desalination and other utilities projects.
Yigal Arnon & Co. provides top-of-the-line advice across the spectrum of energy project-related matters. For example, we provide tailored, cutting-edge solutions for complex tender law challenges in this sector. We have invaluable experience when it comes to advancing our clients’ projects, through our close work with planning committees, regulators, government entities, the Electricity Authority and other parties.
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In addition to the considerable experience we have gained in infrastructure tenders, Yigal Arnon & Co. also supports public-sector clients in many other tenders for performance of work and services; we sometimes represent private entities bidding in such tenders as well. In addition to the infrastructure projects described above, we also represent a large municipal company in tenders for projects in that city and advise government offices and other public-sector entities in tender proceedings.
Yigal Arnon & Co. also handles tender-related litigation, which is common in Israel after the winning bid is announced. Whether defending the winner of a tender, or attacking the winner on behalf of another bidding group, these disputes call for deep knowledge of both subject matter and the law. They also require special legal skills and the ability to quickly handle a large volume and scope of material and tasks.
We typically represent tender bidders challenging the tender results or defending their selection, but we occasionally represent the tendering committee in its defense of its selection. In other cases, we represent bidders challenging the tender terms, ahead of the bidding stage.
Thanks to our multifaceted experience with challenges of tender results, and with subsequent court appeals, we are well-positioned to help our clients avoid pitfalls when drafting tender documents and managing the tender process (in cases where we represent the government or other public-sector issuers), or when putting together the bid and communicating with the tender issuer (in cases where we represent bidders).
Our unparalleled knowledge and experience in tender processes can save our clients precious time and money and help them bring their full competitive skills to the fore.
Yigal Arnon & Co. advises private and public-sector clients in oil and gas projects, onshore and offshore, in matters that involve financing, compliance, the tender process, transactions, litigation and environmental issues.
Our firm is a key player in the booming natural gas exploration industry and was among the first in Israel to become involved in this sector. We represent major financing entities, including some of the largest banks in the world. Our team has been involved in the sale of oil assets as well as in large-scale finance projects, both project finance itself and the financing of preparatory and complementary transactions.
Our clients include local and multinational oil and gas companies and international banks. We also represent several natural gas players, including large consumers, in their natural gas purchase agreements and in the process of converting plants to natural gas.
Our Oil and Gas Practice includes a large team of experts who have performed regulatory due diligence on behalf of several of the largest banks in the world, ahead of their investments in some of the projects mentioned above. Furthermore, our Litigation Group has helped oil and gas companies collect their debts—in one instance serving as the court-appointed receiver in the sale of an important oil asset.
