Pearson shares rocket as Cevian Capital snaps up stake June 12, 2020 Pearson shares surged almost 10 per cent this morning after activist investor Cevian Capital unmasked a 5.4 per cent stake in the firm. A regulatory filing in the US yesterday showed Stockholm-based investor Cevian Capital has taken a stake of 40.6m shares in Pearson. Shares in the educational publisher were up 9.7 per cent to [...]
Domestic M&A rises in first quarter despite coronavirus, as foreign takeovers fall June 2, 2020 UK M&A increased in the first quarter despite the outbreak of coronavirus, while foreign takeovers fell to their lowest level since 2017. During the first quarter, domestic M&A – where UK companies acquire other UK companies – was worth £3.2bn, an increase of £1.1bn in the same period last year, according to the Office for [...]
Tilney and Smith & Williamson strike revised merger deal with Warburg Pincus investing in the group June 1, 2020 Wealth managers Tilney and Smith & Williamson have agreed a revised merger deal with private equity fund Warburg Pincus investing in the combined group. The deal had looked in doubt after regulatory problems and the coronavirus crisis meant an initial deadline to agree a merger was missed. Today, the pair said as part of the [...]
Property giant Capco snaps up 26 per cent stake in rival Shaftesbury in £436m deal June 1, 2020 UK property manager Capco has acquired a 26 per cent stake in London-focused property firm Shaftesbury for £436m. Capco has bought the stake from a trust set up by Hong Kong tycoon Samuel Tak Lee for 540p per share, representing a discount of 13.9 per cent to the closing Shaftesbury share price on 29 May. [...]
BT shares surge on possible sale of £20bn stake in Openreach May 15, 2020 BT’s share price jumped in early trading today following reports the telco is preparing to sell a £20bn stake in its fibre rollout arm Openreach. The telecom giant’s shares, which have been trading at a record low this year, rocketed 9.25 per cent to 111.6p on a Financial Times report that discussions were underway. BT [...]
Suits you: TM Lewin bought by private equity firm SCP May 12, 2020 British menswear brand TM Lewin has today been acquired by SCP Private Equity via special purpose vehicle Torque Brands. TM Lewin, which was established in 1898, was sold to SCP for an undisclosed amount by Bain Capital Credit which acquired the shirt-and-tie retailer in 2015. SCP has acquired the business as a going concern, taking [...]
M&A set for torrid second quarter as deal volumes are expected to contract further May 6, 2020 UK M&A deal volumes are expected to contract further in the second quarter of 2020, after falling to a 35-year low last month. A Mark to Market survey of M&A professionals found that 95 per cent of respondents anticipate deal volumes in the UK to fall in the second quarter. Of those, 56 per cent [...]
Virgin Media and O2 owners in talks over tie-up May 3, 2020 Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica is in talks with Liberty Global about a merger of its mobile business O2 with Liberty’s Virgin Media cable company. A combination of O2 and Virgin Media would reshape the UK’s telecoms industry, leaving Three and Vodafone stranded without their own fixed-line consumer networks. Telefonica has been examining options for the [...]
UK M&A falls to lowest monthly total in almost 35 years April 29, 2020 UK M&A has plunged to its lowest monthly level in almost 35 years after the coronavirus pandemic smashed business confidence and sent the economy into a deep freeze. Deal value involving a UK target totalled £409.1m from 35 deals in April – its lowest since September 1985 when nine deals worth £269.5m were struck, according [...]
Brazil’s Embraer blasts Boeing after $4.2bn deal scrapped April 26, 2020 Brazilian aircraft company Embraer today attacked Boeing after the US company yesterday pulled the plug on a $4.2bn (£3.4bn) deal to buy its commercial jets division. In a statement, Embraer said: “Embraer believes strongly that Boeing has wrongfully terminated the MTA [master transaction agreement], that it has manufactured false claims as a pretext to seek [...]