UK bosses to embrace M&A to stay ahead of digital curve Business Nearly all business bosses (99 per cent) said they expect to actively pursue transactions over the next year, according to EY's latest CEO outlook.
Legal & General shares soar as firm sells US insurance business for £1.8bn Business Following the deal, Meiji Yasuda will own L&G's US protection business and have a 20 per cent economic interest in its pension risk transfer (PRT) business.
CMA shake-up set to drive resurgence of UK M&A activity Business Merger and acquisitions (M&A) in the UK are expected to strengthen in 2025, aided by the recent shake-up at the competition regulator
HSBC set to wind down UK, European and US investment banking arms January 28, 2025 HSBC is set to wind down parts of its investment banking operations across the UK, Europe and North America as part of a sweeping global restructuring plan under new chief executive Georges Elhedery. The move comes after Europe’s biggest lender revealed plans to make $3bn (£2.4bn) of cost savings last year and reorganise into four [...]
Food and drink deals spike as big firms look to strengthen positions January 23, 2025 M&A deal volumes in the food and drink sector saw a double digit rise last year, as buyers targeted undervalued companies in a bid to strengthen their positions in the market. Total deal volume rose to 151 deals in 2024, a 29.1 per cent increase from 117 deals in the previous year, while the total [...]
Why commuter trains are the best place to gather market intelligence January 22, 2025 From overheard conversations to poorly concealed laptop screens, the morning commute is a rich source of leaked information, says Sam Turvey Every year my communications consultancy puts out a global M&A leaks report highlighting where in the world leaks are most prevalent, and speculates on why people leak confidential information. A debate normally ensues about [...]
Private equity firms under pressure to kickstart UK dealmaking January 14, 2025 Private equity fund managers are coming under mounting pressure from their investors to begin striking deals after a sluggish two years hampered by political turmoil and lofty interest rates, advisers have said. While deal value ticked up through 2024, backers of top private equity funds are taking a “sterner” tone with fund managers after a [...]
Mark Kleinman: Ratcliffe’s cost-cutting results in Manchester Disunited January 9, 2025 Mark Kleinman is Sky News’ City Editor and is the man who gets the Square Mile talking in his weekly City AM column. This week, he tackles Ratcliffe’s own goal, Shawbrook setting the tone and a FTSE 100 Doomsday clash over pay Ratcliffe’s cost-cutting results in Manchester Disunited Sir Jim Ratcliffe might not like to admit it, but 2024 [...]
Financial M&A surges as banks and insurers hunt for scale January 8, 2025 A wave of banking and insurance tie-ups pushed the volume of UK financial services dealmaking to its highest level in more than a decade last year, new figures show. After a slowdown in 2023, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the UK’s financial services industry rebounded last year with a 26 per cent year-on-year increase [...]
US activist investors ramp up attacks on UK companies January 6, 2025 US activist investors ramped up their attacks on UK companies in 2024, with British firms continuing as the top target for investor campaigns in Europe. 42 per cent of all activist campaigns in Europe targeted the UK, with 59 companies coming under pressure throughout the year, according to Alvarez & Marsal’s latest Activist Alert Outlook. [...]