Cobham shareholder comes out against £4bn takeover deal by US private equity firm September 10, 2019 The furore surrounding aerospace stalwart Cobham’s controversial £4bn takeover by a US private equity group shifted up a gear today, as one of its top shareholders rebuffed the plan. Sanderson Asset Management, an investment firm operating out of London and Chicago, which is Cobham’s 11th largest shareholder, has written to the FTSE 250 company’s founding [...]
Eddie Stobart says it has received buyout interest from Dbay Advisors September 9, 2019 Troubled trucking company Eddie Stobart said today it had received a preliminary approach about a possible acquisition by its third-largest shareholder Dbay Advisors. Last month Eddie Stobart suspended its shares and announced its chief executive Alex Laffey was standing down with immediate effect after it discovered a multi-million pound accounting error. Read more: Eddie Stobart [...]
Second shareholder adviser backs Cobham £4bn private equity takeover September 5, 2019 Another influential shareholder adviser Glass Lewis has recommended Cobham shareholders back the company’s £4bn takeover by Advent International, after Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) said the same two days ago. Glass Lewis is the second-most prominent advisory service in the world behind ISS, and has told shareholders to choose the “‘bird in the hand’, in this [...]
Brexit bargains: Foreign buyers snap up UK companies in M&A frenzy September 3, 2019 The value of foreign takeover deals in the UK have jumped over the last quarter, nearly doubling on the previous three-month period after several notable mergers were inked in the City. Read more: UK M&A deal values more than halve amid global tensions Inward mergers and acquisitions, whereby an overseas company acquires a UK firm, [...]
Daily Mail-owner DMGT sells energy data business for $364m August 26, 2019 Daily-Mail owner DMGT said today it has agreed to sell its energy information business in a $364m (£297m) deal. DMGT said it had agreed to sell Genscape to Nasdaq-listed data analytics provider Verisk. Genscape will become part of Verisk’s Wood Mackenzie business which focuses on short-term energy data and analytics. DMGT said it expected the [...]
Hasbro swoops on Peppa Pig-maker Entertainment One in $4bn deal August 22, 2019 US toy giant Hasbro is set to snap up London-listed Peppa Pig-maker Entertainment One in a $4bn (£3.3bn) deal. The two companies said tonight they had agreed an all-cash deal with Entertainment One shareholders to receive £5.60 in cash for each share. The deal marks a 31 per cent premium to Entertainment One’s 30-day average [...]
Thyssenkrupp pushes back against EU’s steel merger block August 22, 2019 Thyssenkrupp has filed a complaint against regulators after they blocked a joint venture with Tata Steel earlier in the summer. The German steel making giant is disputing the antitrust decision by the European Commission to veto its plans to forge Europe’s second-biggest steelmaker over fears it would reduce competition. Read more: Thyssenkrupp issues another profit [...]
Companies that buy divested assets more likely to outperform index August 21, 2019 Companies that bought carved-out portions of other businesses were more likely to outperform their industry average, a study has found. Over half (53 per cent) of companies that bought divested assets during the first half of the year outperformed their MSCI Global index by an average of one percentage point, according to research published today [...]
Wealth managers Tilney and Smith & Williamson in tie-up talks August 18, 2019 Wealth manager Tilney is in merger talks with fellow-wealth manager Smith & Williamson. A deal would create a firm with revenue of nearly £500m and assets under management of in excess of £45bn. The pair have been in talks for a couple of months, according to people familiar with the situation. Read more: Why times [...]
Henderson Park buys Irish real estate fund Green Reit in €1.3bn deal August 14, 2019 Real estate investment group Henderson Park today said it had agreed to acquire Irish real estate fund Green REIT in a €1.3bn (£1.2bn) deal. Green Reit floated in 2013 as Ireland’s property market began to recover after the country’s real estate crash. It put itself up for sale in April because its shares were trading [...]