The four founders of Wiz, the cybersecurity company sold to Google for $32 billion in the largest deal in Israeli tech history, are looking for their next investment, and it is far from cloud security. According to reports in Calcalist and Haaretz, Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak and Roy Reznik are the frontrunners to buy the McDonald's franchise in Israel.
McDonald's at a bargain
According to Calcalist, the founders are negotiating a price well below the NIS 1.5 billion to NIS 2 billion range associated with the previous franchise deal. Haaretz reported a valuation of about NIS 1 billion. Such a deal would make the Wiz founders owners of one of Israel's largest fast-food chains, with dozens of branches and thousands of employees.
And CAL too
At the same time, according to Calcalist, the founders' representatives approached senior Discount Bank officials and asked for information about CAL, the credit card company the bank is selling. The previous CAL deal, with George Horesh and Harel at NIS 3.75 billion to NIS 4 billion, ran into opposition from the Competition Authority. Discount will not meet new buyers before November 1, the deadline for Horesh and Harel to meet the deal's conditions. To pass Bank of Israel scrutiny, the founders would likely need to join a larger entity. Direct Insurance Group and Union Group are also interested.
Why it is interesting
This is a relatively new phenomenon in Israeli tech: founders who made huge exits investing the money in the local "old" economy, in retail and finance. If the deals go ahead, they could bring a technological and digital approach to those sectors, and also open a debate about concentration and the economic power of tech founders.
