Credit check service Experian abandons £275m Clearscore merger after watchdog investigation February 27, 2019 Experian has backed down over its £275m merger with credit rating checker rival Clearscore after a watchdog warned it could harm competition in the sector. The firm said it did not believe the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) would approve the acquisition of the rival and has decided to abandon the proposal. Read more: Experian reports [...]
Private equity player KKR reportedly circling Asda following Sainsbury’s deal setback February 24, 2019 US private equity house KKR is reportedly mulling a bid for Asda after a ruling last week by the competition regulator that could stymie its proposed tie-up with fellow big four supermarket Sainsbury’s. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said last week that a deal between the two supermarkets could lead to "a substantial lessening [...]
Flybe completes sale to Virgin-led consortium after dramatic last-minute challenger bid February 21, 2019 Struggling regional airline Flybe has completed the sale of its assets to a consortium of buyers led by Virgin Atlantic. Flybe confirmed it has sold its assets and operations for £2.8m to Connect Airways, an investor group consisting of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart and hedge fund Cyrus Capital. The deal comes just days after it emerged [...]
UK bags Europe’s M&A top spot with $247bn of deals in 2018 as TMT mergers grow February 19, 2019 The UK enjoyed the highest value of M&A deals in Europe last year as telecoms and media takeovers spiked. High value purchases like Comcast’s $39bn purchase of Sky pushed mergers involving UK companies to $247bn in 2018, data compiled by law firm Clifford Chance found. Read more: Watchdog delays final report on Sainsbury's-Asda merger Both domestic and [...]
Berry Global gets deadline to hijack Apollo’s RPC Group takeover February 19, 2019 Berry Global, the US firm trying to hijack an agreed £3.3bn takeover of plastic packaging giant RPC Group, has been given a 13 March deadline to announce a concrete intention to make a counter offer. RPC accepted an offer in January by private equity firm Apollo Global Management after months of negotiations. But Berry, another [...]
Almost 90 per cent of UK companies have divestment plans in next two years February 18, 2019 Almost 90 per cent of UK companies plan to divest some shares in the next two years, with 72 per cent intending to make a disposal in the next year. Although the disposal intentions of UK companies remain high, above the global figure of 84 per cent and up from a UK figure of 46 [...]
Intercontinental Hotel Group buys luxury brand Six Senses in $300m deal February 13, 2019 Intercontinental Hotel Group said today it has agreed a $300m (£233m) deal to buy Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas. The Holiday Inn-owner said it had bought the luxury chain from Pegasus Capital Advisors giving it access to properties in locations such as the Seychelles, the Maldives, Thailand, Oman and Portugal. Six Senses manages 16 hotels and resorts, [...]
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 [...]