Wilkinson Sword owner Edgewell abandons $1.4bn Harry’s merger February 10, 2020 Razor maker Edgewell – the owner of Wilkinson Sword – has abandoned plans for a $1.37bn merger with rival firm Harry’s following opposition from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Earlier this month, the FTC filed a lawsuit to block the deal, saying it could hurt competition in the US. Privately owned Harry’s will pursue [...]
European companies could face upsurge in activist raids February 10, 2020 European companies could face an upsurge in activity from activist investors, analysis released today showed. One in 20 European companies with a market capitalisation of over $250m (£193m) have been targeted by activist investors in the past five years. This is half the rate (one in 10) for similar size companies in the US. The [...]
Advent International teams up with rival private equity firms to plot takeover of Pepco February 3, 2020 Private equity firm Advent International is reported to be working with Hellman & Friedman and Mid Europa Partners on a bid for Pepco Group. A takeover could value Pepco at more than €4.5bn (£3.8bn), Sky News reported. Steinhoff International is looking to sell Pepco, which includes retailer Poundland. Advent offloaded Poundland to Warburg Pincus for [...]
Searchlight Capital acquires majority stake in GRP February 3, 2020 Searchlight Capital Partners has announced it will take a majority stake in Global Risk Partners (GRP). GRP founders Peter Cullum CBE and David Margrett, as well as founding investor Penta Capital, will all retain minority stakes. Searchlight paid an undisclosed fee for a majority stake but it is understand that the deal values GRP at [...]
CMA sets out the issues in Amazon’s Deliveroo investment January 28, 2020 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today laid out plans for the next stage of its investigation into the Amazon and Deliveroo tie-up. The regulator has set out the key areas it plans to assess. It includes whether the deal could damage competition in the online restaurant food delivery market and the emerging market [...]
Exclusive: EY plans major private equity push as audit reform looms over sector January 19, 2020 Big Four firm EY is planning a major private equity push as it grapples with potential regulatory changes that could dramatically alter the face of the firm, City A.M. can reveal. Its transaction advisory division is understood to be looking to boost its capabilities in the private equity sector, with the goal of winning more [...]
Value of UK deals almost doubled in ‘spectacular’ end to 2019 January 16, 2020 The value of UK private equity and venture capital deals almost doubled in the last quarter of 2019, boosted by a spate of mega-buyouts worth over €1bn (£854m). Although the total number of deals fell during the three months to 31 December, six mega-buyouts helped propel overall UK deal value to €27bn — an 80 [...]
Relx buys ID Analytics for $375m January 13, 2020 Relx today said it had agreed to buy ID Analytics from Norton Life Lock (NLL) for $375m (£288m). ID Analytics will become part of Lexis Nexis Risk Solutions, part of Relx’s risk and business analytics arm and its fastest-growing division. Founded in 2002, San-Diego based ID Analytics provides credit and fraud risk solutions for enterprises [...]
London Stock Exchange set to send $27bn Refinitiv deal to EU regulators January 13, 2020 The London Stock Exchange Group is reportedly set to file its $27bn (£20.8bn) deal to buy financial data group Refinitiv with EU antitrust authorities, following extensive discussions with Brussels over the scope of its investigation into the merger. The two sides have not yet resolved the issue of what constitutes “the market” against which the [...]
Deals fell to lowest volume in six years in 2019 January 9, 2020 Global deal making fell last year to its lowest levels since 2013. In 2019 there were 774 transactions valued at over $100m (£76m) completed worldwide, compared with 904 deals in 2018, and the lowest annual volume recorded since 2013 (720). Major deals last year included Marsh & McLennan’s £4.6bn acquisition of insurance broker Jardine Lloyd [...]