Gfinity IPO: eSports mania set to hit London with sector’s debut float November 30, 2014 In a move that surprised many, Amazon forked out just under $1bn in August to acquire online electronic sports (eSports) TV channel Twitch. For the majority in the UK, it was a first introduction to eSports: the world of online competitive video gaming. The industry attracts not only people who compete against each other, but [...]
£106m Quantum IPO puts Zeus Capital over £1bn raised November 27, 2014 Zeus Capital has advised on over £1bn worth of funds raised on Aim this year, after securing £106m for Quantum Pharma’s float next month. Quantum, the County Durham-based firm, is set to become the biggest pharmaceutical and biotech float on Aim this year with a valuation of £125m when its shares begin trading on 11 [...]
Blackstone rejects $2bn offer for Center Parcs as it mulls a flotation November 24, 2014 London-based private equity firm BC Partners and the Canada Pension Fund (CPP) have had $2bn (£1.27bn) joint takeover offer for Center Parcs rejected by owner Blackstone Group. US investment conglomerate Blackstone is understood to have rejected the offer because it undervalued the British holiday park operator. A report on Sky News last night said it [...]
Focusrite IPO: Audio products company looks to amplify growth with Aim listing November 24, 2014 British music and audio products company Focusrite yesterday announced its intention to float on London’s Alternative Investment Market (Aim). The High Wycombe-headquartered company provides hardware and software products for musicians. It has two established brands: Focusrite, which makes audio interface and other products for audio recording musicians; and Novation, which allows customers to make electronic [...]
Gail’s IPO: London bakery decides to keep its bread in the oven as it delays flotation November 23, 2014 Upmarket London bakery Gail’s has delayed until the new year plans to float on the stock market. The company, which has 17 bakeries in the capital’s more affluent neighbourhoods, such as Barnes, Dulwich Village and Hampstead, is part owned by serial entrepreneur Luke Johnson, who is also chairman. Earlier this year, Johnson’s investment firm, Risk [...]
GoDaddy pushing ahead with $4.5bn IPO as Google announces plan to enter its domain November 20, 2014 GoDaddy.com is pushing ahead with an initial public offering (IPO) early next year that would value the world’s biggest domain registration service at roughly $4.5bn (£2.9bn). A report yesterday in the New York Post said that chief financial officer Scott Wagner met analysts last week to give an update on GoDaddy since it first filed [...]
After Saga and Toys R Us fiascos calls grow for IPO markets shake-up November 18, 2014 Banks and investors are calling on the City watchdog to probe the behaviour of independent advisers on stock market flotations, fearing the initial public offerings (IPO) market in Europe could become dysfunctional. They argue that advisers are distorting the market by putting pressure on banks’ analysts to put an unrealistically high price on [...]
Change is needed in the IPO market – Editor’s Letter November 18, 2014 As the recent flotation of Virgin Money proved, albeit after a false start, London’s window for new issues (or Initial Public Offerings, IPOs) isn’t absolutely closed, as it was a couple of years ago. But, after a stunning year, it’s damned close to it. There have been 121 IPOs in London and in general those [...]
Lancaster axes Care and Vunipola in bid to arrest five-match slump November 18, 2014 ENGLAND head coach Stuart Lancaster has made three changes to his 23-man matchday squad as the Red Rose bid to salvage their autumn programme against Samoa at Twickenham on Saturday. Saracens scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth, Wasps skipper James Haskell and Gloucester centre Billy Twelvetrees all make the cut for the first time this series. There has [...]
Indivior IPO: Reckitt Benckiser splits off addiction unit November 17, 2014 Addiction treatment firm Indivior is set to join the FTSE100 as parent Reckitt Benckiser yesterday said it would float the business as a separate entity. However, the drug business may not remain listed in London for long – 80 per cent of its revenues come from the US, and its chief executive Shaun Thaxter expects [...]