Shore Capital snaps up Stockdale Securities to create City’s fourth-largest corporate broking firm February 13, 2019 Shore Capital said today that it had bought Stockdale Securities in a deal to create London’s fourth-largest corporate broking firm by number of main market and Aim-quoted clients. It paid close to book value of £4.9m with additional deferred consideration of up to £4m, subject to performance. Read more: City broker Shore Capital closes in [...]
Morgan Stanley buys stock plan platform Solium Capital in $900m deal February 11, 2019 Morgan Stanley has announced plans to buy Canadian stock plan platform Solium Capital for $900m (£696.9m) as the firm targets millennial customers. The companies entered into a partnership with one another in 2016 for Solium to provide equity compensation plans for Morgan Stanley’s corporate clients, and the investment bank has been planning to ramp up its [...]
Smith & Nephew is today’s biggest FTSE 100 faller on reports of $3bn US deal February 11, 2019 Smith & Nephew was the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 this morning with shares down more than four per cent on reports it is in talks to buy US spine technology Nuvasive in a $3bn (£2.32bn) deal. Shares fell 4.39 per cent to 1,448p today, having closed on Friday at 1,515p. The Financial Times [...]
Euronext improves offer for Oslo Bors exchange as it tries to beat out Nasdaq February 11, 2019 Pan-European stock market operator Euronext raised its offer for Norwegian counterpart Oslo Bors today, as it doubles down in a bidding war against rival Nasdaq. Boosting its per-share takeover offer from 145 Norwegian kroner to 158 Norwegian kroner (1,295p to 1,411p per share), Euronext has given Oslo Bors until 11 March to make a decision. [...]
Satirical website the Daily Mash sold in £1.2m deal February 8, 2019 Satirical news website the Daily Mash has been sold in a £1.2m deal. The website, which also has a TV offshoot the Mash Report on BBC2, is being taken over by Digitalbox. Digitalbox is a media business that is scheduled to flotation Aim on 28 February through the reverse takeover of an Aim shell called [...]
Indivior sells China opioid treatment drug as it looks to focus on its core products February 4, 2019 Drug company Indivior has agreed to sell its rights related to the Sai Bo Song (buprenorphine, naloxone) tablet in China to Zhejiang Pukang Biotechnology for $122.5m (£93.6m). The pharmaceutical company said the sale of the tablet was part of its strategy to focus its resources on its core assets and markets. "The divestiture of the [...]
ScS Group ends talks to buy Sofa.com leaving Mike Ashley in the driving seat February 1, 2019 Home furnishings retailer ScS Group said today it had ended talks with furniture retailer Sofa.com, leaving the way clear for Mike Ashley who is reportedly putting together a multi-million pound bid. ScS said today it is “no longer in discussions regarding a potential acquisition of the business and assets of Sofa.com”. Sky News reported that Ashley, [...]
WPP sells stake in ‘Davos in the Desert’ consulting firm Richard Attias & Associates January 31, 2019 WPP today said it is selling its stake in Richard Attias & Associates (RAA), the consulting firm behind the so-called Davos in the Desert conference in Saudi Arabia last year. The advertising group said it will sell its minority stake in RAA back to existing shareholders as part of an ongoing plan to simplify its [...]
London Stock Exchange to buy €278.5m stake in Euroclear January 30, 2019 The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has expanded its reach in Europe with an agreement today to acquire a nearly five per cent stake in clearing house Euroclear. The LSE said today it will buy an aggregate 4.92 per cent stake in Euroclear’s share capital for €278.5m (£241.9 million). Brussels-based Euroclear provides settlement, custody and collateral management [...]
US-China trade war greater threat to M&A deals than Brexit, survey finds January 29, 2019 The trade war between the US and China is a greater risk to merger and acquisition (M&A) activity this year than Brexit, according to research published today. A total of 50 per cent of senior global M&A professionals viewed the trade tensions, rising tariffs and potential subsequent erosion of global GDP as the biggest emerging business [...]