Vesttoo CEO Yaniv Bertele — LinkedIn
Intel has been forced to give up on its planned $5.4 billion acquisition of Israel’s Tower Semiconductor, a leading foundry for analog semiconductor solutions. The reason given was the failure to receive the approval of Chinese regulators for the acquisition. And Vesttoo, an Israeli insurtech startup and a unicorn that has been rocked by recent allegations of fraud, is now reportedly seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
In July it was reported that Vesttoo investors allegedly provided fake letters of credit (LOCs) to insurers for reinsurance transactions on the Vesttoo platform are believed to total a sum of around $4 billion. Most of these letters reportedly came from what was described as a leading Chinese bank, which appears to have been unaware of the situation.
Vesttoo interim CEO Ami Barlev explained the move in a statement saying, “We believe the steps we are taking are best for Vesttoo’s long-term growth and success. Not only will they result in a strong, more sustainable capital structure, but they will provide us with the platform to aggressively pursue all parties that harmed our business.”
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The company has recently seen its value plummet and it closed offices and let go of staff.
Vesttoo first hit the coveted unicorn status in October of 2022 when the firm raised $80 Million in a Series C financing round that left it with a $1.1 billion valuation. And it was just this past May that the firm hit a valuation of as much as $2 billion.
Founded in 2018 by CEO Yaniv Bertele, CPO Alon Lifshitz, and CTO Ben Zickel,, Vesttoo specializes in data-driven risk management solutions for the P&C and longevity markets, using “cutting-edge technologies to transfer General Insurance, Lapse, and Longevity risk to the capital markets.” Vesttoo declares that it provides insurers and pension funds with low-cost, strategic risk transfer to the capital markets, while investors benefit from correlated, high-yield investments with remote loss possibilities.
As a one-stop-shop provider, Vesttoo says that its technological platform takes care of every aspect of the deal. From accurate AI-based risk modeling to structuring, pricing and performance monitoring – with no upfront fees or frictional costs.
As for Intel’s Tower Semiconductor acquisition, Intel said the deal fell through “due to the inability to obtain in a timely manner the regulatory approvals required under the merger agreement, dated Feb. 15, 2022.” Intel will now pay Tower a termination fee of $353 million.”
Some observers are saying that China blocked the deal due to current tensions it is now experiencing with the U.S.
Founded in 1993, Tower Semiconductor manufactures analog integrated circuits for more than 300 customers worldwide in growing markets such as consumer, automotive, medical, industrial, and aerospace & defense, among others. The company provides advanced specialty technologies including Radio Frequency (RF), High Performance Analog (HPA), integrated Power Management, CMOS Image Sensors, and Mixed-Signal/CMOS as well as Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) capabilities.
