The Chase Manhattan Bank will open a branch for business services in Tel Aviv by the end of July. This was revealed today by Mitchell J. Blutt, Executive Partner in Chase Capital Partners, the investment arm of the international Chase Manhattan group. Blutt declined to specify what services the branch would provide.
Up until now, the Chase Manhattan group's involvement in Israel was limited to venture capital investments. The group's investment arm invested in Polaris's venture capital funds. After the Chase group's acquisition last year of the Hambrecht and Quist investment bank, which invested in the Eucalyptus venture capital fund, Chase Capital Partners' investments in Israeli funds, including Polaris and Eucalyptus, totaled $150 million.
Among the Chase Manhattan group's investments was Chromatis Networks, with the Eucalyptus fund. The group holds 3% of the company's share capital, which Lucent acquired at a value of $4.8 billion. Chase Manhattan's proceeds from this deal are $140 million. Chase Capital Partners invests mostly in telecommunications and biotechnology. The company's headquarters are in New York, and it also has offices in San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, and San Paolo. A branch will shortly be opened in Japan.
In answer to a question whether Lucent had paid too high a price for Chromatis, Blutt responded: "If Lucent decided to acquire Chromatis at the agreed price, it means that the company is worth it. Lucent recognized Chromatis's sales potential, which will amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in the coming years."
Published by Israel's Business Arena on June 1, 2000