Discovery gets green light for WarnerMedia deal from EU competition watchdog December 22, 2021 Discovery today announced that the European Commission has granted unconditional antitrust approval to its proposed acquisition of WarnerMedia assets from telecoms giant AT&T. “Approval from the European Commission is a key milestone toward completing our proposed transaction with AT&T,” said Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav – the future CEO of the combined company. “Today [...]
Sony-Zee merger to form Indian entertainment giant to rival Disney and Netflix December 22, 2021 Sony’s Indian arm has reached a deal with Indian rival Zee Entertainment to create the second biggest entertainment network in India. The Indian unit of the Japanese conglomerate will merge 75 television channels, film assets and two streaming platforms with Zee Entertainment, in a bid to compete with streaming rivals Netflix and Disney in India. [...]
Global M&A activity hits new record of $5 trillion in 2021 December 20, 2021 Global merger and acquisition (M&A) activity records of all time have been smashed this year, after exceeding $5 trillion for the first time. Global M&A jumped 63 per cent to $5.63tn (£4.26tn) while in Europe activity was almost 50 per cent up, to $1.26tn (£954m), driven in part by a boost of confidence among chief [...]
Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan to raise investment banker bonuses after deal-making frenzy December 15, 2021 JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs may reward investment bankers by increasing bonus pools by as much as 50 per cent, following a boom in deal-making this year. Following recent meetings to discuss and set pay for the year JPMorgan is considering upping the bonus pool by 40 per cent while Goldman Sachs is mulling [...]
Growth capital business a key focus for long-term strategy at Numis, says co-CEO December 8, 2021 City broker Numis this morning reported its full year revenue swelled nearly 40 per to hit £215.6m, as a buoyant IPO market coupled with stabilised markets and rising deal fees helped the firm deliver its second record annual revenue performance in a row. Profit before tax doubled in the year to September 30, which Numis [...]
Nvidia’s $54bn Arm deal faces yet another setback as EU regulators press pause on probe December 6, 2021 EU competition watchdogs have temporarily hit pause on their investigation into Nvidia’s planned takeover of British chip designer Arm, introducing another obstacle in the way of the $54bn deal. The European Commission halted its probe into the takeover on its previous deadline on November 25, as it awaits more information, Reuters first reported from a [...]
Marlowe ditches its ‘unsolicited’ takeover bid of Restore August 10, 2021 Business services company Marlowe has today announced that it has withdrawn its takeover bid for fellow data services firm Restore after the companies could not come to an agreement. The board of Marlowe said it still believed that the deal would have been “strategically compelling,” but that the “offer price that would be required to secure [...]
Marlboro maker Philip Morris offers £1bn for British inhaler company August 9, 2021 Philip Morris has upped its bid for respiratory drugmaker Vectura to over £1bn as the takeover deal, which is being “closely monitored” by the government, has raised public interest questions. Philip Morris International (PMI) raised its offer to £1.65 per share, valuing Vectura at £1.02bn, after private equity firm Carlyle made an offer of £958m [...]
Rentokil’s shares soar as it ups dividend by a third following strong performance July 29, 2021 Pest control and hygiene group Rentokil Initial reported a strong performance today in its 2021 interim results, and announced they will increase dividends by over a third. The British company will up dividend payments by 38 per cent to 2.09p per share, raising the amount payable to shareholders to £38.9m on 13 September. Proving services [...]
US law firms in the UK raise bonuses in battle for staff July 28, 2021 UK legal companies have been forced into a bidding war for junior associates employed by top-tier US firms. Top US law firm Goodwin Procter is offering sign-on bonuses to its London staff worth up to £36,000, according to a recruiter, City A.M. understands. Last week Slaughter and May announced that it would increase pay for [...]