M&A in the UK falls a third on coronavirus and recession fears March 20, 2020 Dealmaking in the UK fell off a cliff this month with outbound M&A dropping to a seven-year low, as activity slowed amid the coronavirus outbreak. The global pandemic has sent markets into a frenzy, fuelling fears of severe damage to the economy and forcing central banks to take drastic emergency stimulus measures since the financial [...]
Pennon sells waste business Viridor to private equity firm KKR in £4.2bn deal March 18, 2020 FTSE 250 utility company Pennon said today it has agreed to sell waste business Viridor to private equity firm KKR in a £4.2bn deal. The sale represents an enterprise value of £4.2bn on a cash-free, debt-free basis at an earnings multiple of 18.5x. KKR made an unsuccessful bid for Viridor late last year in an [...]
LSL abandons Countrywide merger amid coronavirus concerns March 16, 2020 LSL Property Services has pulled out of a potential £500m merger with Countrywide, terminating a deal that would have created the UK’s biggest estate agent, amid market uncertainty due to the outbreak of coronavirus. LSL, which owns Your Move and upmarket chain Marsh & Parsons, did not give a reason for its decision this morning, [...]
Private equity firms preparing bids for Capita sell-off March 9, 2020 The private equity backer of auction house Bonhams is among a group of funds examining bids for a basket of outsourcer Capita’s non-core businesses. Sky News reported that Epiris was one of several private equity firms getting ready to bid for nine of Capita’s business units. The subsidiaries up for sale include Capita’s travel and [...]
Aon to buy Willis Towers Watson for nearly $30bn in insurance mega-deal March 9, 2020 Aon said today it had agreed to acquire Willis Towers Watson for nearly $30bn (£22.9bn) in an all-stock deal that will create one of the world’s largest insurance brokers. The deal between the two would create a company with a combined value of approximately $80bn. Aon confirmed last year it was in early stage talks [...]
Divestments fail to add value for six consecutive years March 3, 2020 The majority of companies that sold portions of their business last year lost shareholder value, meaning that divestments have failed to add value for six consecutive years. Six out of ten companies that divested part of their business continued to struggle to add value, according to Willis Towers Watsons Divestment Performance Monitor. Based on share [...]
Deal-makers bullish on M&A prospects for the year March 2, 2020 Deal-makers are more bullish about prospects for M&A and capital raising this year than they were at the start of 2019. According to figures from Refinitiv, 47 per cent of deal-makers anticipate M&A volume growth, with an average predicted growth of 4.7 per cent. Asian dealers are more bullish than their American and EMEA counterparts, [...]
Asda: Private equity firms race to buy majority stake March 1, 2020 Private equity firms are vying to buy a majority stake in Asda after its US owner Walmart decided to offload the supermarket following the competition watchdog’s decision to block its merger with Sainsbury’s. US buyout firm Lone Star has reportedly made an offer for a stake in the grocer, with private equity firms Apollo and [...]
London Stock Exchange’s $27bn Refinitiv deal under scrutiny in Brussels February 26, 2020 The London Stock Exchange Group’s $27bn purchase of Refinitiv has reportedly already come under intense scrutiny in Brussels, raising the prospect that EU regulators will initiate a much longer investigation into the deal than had been expected. The two companies are yet to formally notify competition regulators of the deal, which would trigger the review [...]
Countrywide and LSL confirm ‘ongoing’ merger talks February 24, 2020 Estate agent Countrywide has confirmed discussions over a reported £500m merger with rival LSL are “ongoing” after news of the possible tie-up leaked over the weekend. If Countrywide and LSL do tie the knot, they could create the UK’s biggest estate agent company with numerous brands under one umbrella. Countrywide made a brief announcement today [...]