It’s a holiday-shortened week, so let’s jump right in.

On a macro front, it’s interesting to read that the G-30, an international group established in 1978 and composed of very senior representatives of private, public and academic circles, will be holding their 2008 plenary in Israel. Israel’s own Bank of Israel Governor, Stanley Fischer, will be hosting the group as part of Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations.

Interesting interview of BigBand Network’s (BBND) CEO, Amir Bassan-Eshkenazi, and how he’s positioning the company to take on Cisco (CSCO). Read last week’s coverage of BigBand and why their positioning in the CMTS market may mean great things as they help determine the future of video delivery.

Google Israel (GOOG) is at it again. Now, they’re expanding into an additional 60m on the 21st floor of the Levinstein Building in Tel Aviv. Read about what IsraelNewsletter thinks is going on at Google Israel here.

Teva (TEVA) gets OK to sell generic version of Protonix. Although the Israeli generic powerhouse won the right to sell a version of Wyeth’s (WYE) Protonix, it may choose to hold off doing so until a full decision comes this Wednesday.

The Butler Group out with a new report saying that many medium- to large-sized ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) would benefit by leveraging Ness Technologies’ (NSTC) Managed Labs Offshore Delivery Model. Working with Ness allows ISVs to continue to beef up and speed up R&D while keeping costs manageable, said Butler. Read the whole report here. Check out IsraelNewsletter’s 4 Reasons to Go Long Ness Technologies as well.

TheStreet.com tries to decipher what’s going on at Medis Technologies (MDTL) through their options action.

Read IsraelNewsletter’s coverage of Blue Square-Israel’s (BSI) new foray into organic and health food.

In spite (because of??) all the M&A hullabaloo regarding ECI’s (ECIL) takeover by the Swarth Group, ECI wins a nice deal with India’s Bharti Airtel. Read what IsraelNewsletter has had to say about the impending ECI deal.

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It’s been interesting to watch what’s been going with ECI Telecom (ECIL). As we wrote recently, ECIL, a leading telecommunications equipment manufacturer, has received a bid on the company by the Swarth Group & Ashmore Management consortium, headed by Shaul Shani at $10 per share.

Long story short: the stock stayed propped up near the $10 mark while news of a second bid emerged and then evaporated. As the deadline for counter-bids came and went, the stock traded down to 9.13 only to see it trade up to today’s level or so of 9.34, still an almost 7% discount off of Swarth’s bid of $10.

Why the discount you ask?

Well, I’d posit two reasons:

Transaction Risk: In his research note, Jefferies analyst George Notter pointed to a lack of detail around Swarth’s debt financing plan for the transaction. “Given macro concerns on the debt/LBO environment,” he writes, “it’s possible there may be some risk to Swarth’s anticipated debt financing plan for acquiring ECI. Credit markets are shot: Read Barry Ritholtz’s recent article for a flavor of the pain and see Phil Davis’ article on why the brokers are the new homebuilders.

Repricing Risk: It may be entirely possible that the deal gets repriced. If Shaul Shani’s Swarth Group is having trouble pulling the pieces together and in “light” of the recent Light Reading article explaining that no less than 11 firms have already passed on acquiring ECIL, it’s foreseeable that the deal gets done, just at a lower price.

That’s the leverage I’d be using if I were Swarth.

Disclosure: Author’s fund is long ECIL as of 8/8/07

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Zack Miller is the lead equity analyst for America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. and a former equity analyst for a leading multinational hedge fund. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email zack@profile-financial.com

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