Seplat Petroleum expands production with £382m purchase of Eland Oil & Gas October 15, 2019 Nigerian oil company Seplat Petroleum is set to acquire London-listed Eland Oil & Gas for £382m. The West African oil group will pay 166 pence per share for Eland, which translates into a premium of 28.5 per cent from the company’s closing price on Monday. Read more: Afren in talks to recapitalise after Seplat deal [...]
Takeover titan and Blackstone boss Steve Schwarzman talks charity, business and life advice October 14, 2019 Private equity does not have a reputation for giving away money: on the contrary, it is an industry known for its hard-headed obsession with turning a profit though buying companies and selling them on. So it comes as something of a surprise to find that the boss of the world’s biggest private equity company, Steve [...]
Sophos shares jump as it announces £3bn US private equity buyout October 14, 2019 Cyber security group Sophos shares spiked this morning as it announced it is to be bought out by a US private equity firm, in a deal that values it at £3.1bn. Thoma Bravo said this morning it would take Sophos private, as it dives deeper into the booming cyber security sector. Read more: Sophos share [...]
Competition watchdog to examine £1.3bn tie-up between Slug and Lettuce-owner Stonegate and pub chain Ei Group October 11, 2019 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today said it was considering whether the £1.3bn merger between Slug and Lettuce-owner Stonegate and pub chain Ei Group would lessen competition. The watchdog invited comments on the deal from any relevant party by 25 October. Read more: Slug and Lettuce owner Stonegate Pub Company to pay £1.3bn for [...]
European private equity buyouts climb to 12-year high October 9, 2019 Private equity buyout investment in European companies grew significantly during the third quarter, with UK buyouts jumping almost 70 per cent. The total volume of buyouts across Europe reached a 12-year high during the period with 296 deals, according to research released today by Unquote Data. Total deal value increased 28 per cent on the [...]
Hong Kong abandons £32bn bid for London Stock Exchange October 8, 2019 Shares in the London Stock Exchange (LSE) dropped as much as six per cent today after Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) confirmed it has abandoned its audacious £32bn takeover bid. “HKEX confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for LSE,” it told the market on open. Read more: Shareholders tell HKEX [...]
Flutter shares jump 14 per cent on £11bn merger with Stars Group to create one of the world’s largest gambling firms October 2, 2019 Flutter Entertainment and Nasdaq- and Toronto-listed Stars Group said today they were merging in a deal that will create one of the world’s largest gambling businesses. Shareholders in Flutter, formerly known as Paddy Power Betfair, will own approximately 54.6 per cent of the new company with Stars shareholders owning approximately 45.3 per cent of the [...]
Historic Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff rescued by Infrastrata in £6m deal October 1, 2019 The Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic has been rescued in a £6m deal by UK listed infrastructure company Infrastrata. Infrastrata has agreed to buy Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries and Harland and Wolff Group for a total consideration of £6m. The company said that the 79 employees who did not opt for voluntary redundancy [...]
UK outbound M&A plunges to lowest level in a decade October 1, 2019 The value of UK outbound merger and acquisition (M&A) activity plunged in the third quarter, sinking to its lowest level in the last decade. M&A deals have totalled $42.9bn (£35bn) so far this year, down 69 per cent on the same time last year, according to data from Refinitiv. Read more: M&A activity targeting UK [...]
Hong Kong bourse ‘may increase’ £32bn offer for London Stock Exchange, says Swiss peer September 25, 2019 Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing (HKEX) will likely raise its blockbuster offer for the London Stock Exchange (LSE), according to the chief executive of a fellow bourse heavyweight. Swiss stock exchange boss Jos Dijsselhof has told City A.M. that he expects HKEX to up its current £32bn takeover proposal for its London counterpart, but he remains convinced [...]