Israel may not be a major manufacturing hub for automobiles, but it has emerged as a leader in transportation technology. And now it’s yielded yet another high-profile acquisition.
German automotive components manufacturer Continental AG announced on Friday the acquisition of Argus Cyber Security, a company specializing in protecting connected cars against hackers.
“Only secure mobility is intelligent mobility,” said Continental’s interior division chief Helmt Matschi. “With the acquisition of Argus Cyber Security we are enhancing our abilities to directly develop and offer solutions and services with some of the world’s leading automotive cyber security experts to our customers around the globe in order to truly make mobility more intelligent and secure.”
The Tel Aviv-based company has a staff of 70, with offices in Japan, Germany, and the United States. It holds (or has pending) 38 patents related to cyber security. Its acquisition will see it operate as part of Continental’s software division Elektrobit. Though the financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, Automotive News reports that the deal is worth some $400 million.
The Argus sale is just the latest in a string of high-profile acquisitions in Israel‘s transportation technology sector. Earlier this year, Intel announced the acquisition of camera-based safety systems company Mobileye (based in Jerusalem) for over $15 billion, eclipsing the near billion-dollar price tag paid by Google in 2013 for community-based digital mapping company Waze (based in Ra’anana).
“Joining forces with Continental and EB will enable us to further accelerate the realization of that vision,” said Argus CEO Ofer Ben-Noon. “With automotive cyber security regulations in the making worldwide and with already millions of connected cars on the road, I can’t think of a better time, or a more exciting move, than now to become part of EB. Together we will shorten time to market and make it easier for vehicle manufacturers to protect their vehicles from cyber-attacks.”
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