KKR CASHES IN AS BOOTS SOLD IN $16BN PLAN June 19, 2012 PRIVATE equity firm KKR yesterday confounded its critics by pulling off a deal to sell 45 per cent of pharmaceutical giant Alliance Boots to US firm Walgreens for an initial $6.7bn (£4.3bn). In three years Walgreens will have the option to complete the takeover and buy the remaining 55 per cent stake. The deal will create [...]
Walgreens puts on its Boots to look for profit overseas June 19, 2012 HAS Walgreens just secured exclusive rights to the elixir of youth? By joining forces with Alliance Boots, the US pharmacist gains the UK high street stalwart’s No7 Protect & Perfect anti-ageing cream, made famous by a BBC Horizon episode in 2007 and a clinical trial supporting its effectiveness in 2009. That’s a handy flourish on [...]
PROFILE: WALGREENS’ NEWEST BOARD MEMBERS June 19, 2012 STEFANO PESSINA, ALLIANCE BOOTS ALLIANCE Boots’ executive chairman shows no sign of slowing down despite celebrating his 71st birthday earlier this year. Speaking to reporters yesterday he reaffirmed his commitment to the firm and said he was excited to be taking an eight per cent stake in Walgreens: “I really believe in this company and [...]
PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR July 29, 2012 TODAY we kick off the countdown to the City A.M. Awards with the first of the shortlists – for Personality of the Year. Our awards, now in their third year, have established themselves as a key part of the business calendar, celebrating all of the City’s main sectors and the people that make sure London [...]
It’s far from all over for the bulge bracket banks June 25, 2012 ONE of the many surprises of the Walgreens pharmacy chain bid for 45 per cent of Boots was the choice of advisers. For sure, Walgreens had bulge bracket firm Goldman Sachs on the case but it also took advice from the independent firm Lazard. And on the other side of the deal, Alliance Boots and [...]
DEALMAKER OF THE YEAR August 1, 2012 INVESTMENT bankers have had a difficult year, with London’s IPO market virtually closed, and M&A deals few and far between. Our fourth short-list for the third annual City A.M. awards, though, highlights some superb individual performances in such difficult markets. Jonathan Rowley, for example, was on at least three M&A deals in just one week [...]
Inflation falls at last – but the damage has already been done June 20, 2012 AT last, Britain’s inflation problem is abating. Prices are still increasing too quickly – inflation remains at 3.1 per cent on the retail price index and 2.8 per cent on the consumer price index, painful as wages are growing far less quickly. But the direction of travel is reassuring. The Bank of England – by [...]
Inflation falls at last – but the damage has already been done June 19, 2012 AT last, Britain’s inflation problem is abating. Prices are still increasing too quickly – inflation remains at 3.1 per cent on the retail price index and 2.8 per cent on the consumer price index, painful as wages are growing far less quickly. But the direction of travel is reassuring. The Bank of England – by [...]
FUND MANAGER OF THE YEAR July 30, 2012 Our fund manager of the year award, sponsored by S&P Capital IQ, will go to a company or individual who has demonstrated strong performance or has taken a headline-grabbing stance during a high-profile corporate issue. Well-judged deals against a complex economic backdrop, a commitment to shareholder activism or a canny ability to weather the near-constant [...]
INVESTMENT BANK OF THE YEAR August 2, 2012 2012 will go down as an immensely difficult year for investment banks. Profitability came down as most banks in most markets saw a fall-off in activity. Mergers & acquisition activity fell 16 per cent globally; equity capital markets business was down 31 per cent and many IPO markets were effectively closed. Facebook’s controversial IPO in [...]