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 [...]
City broker Shore Capital closes in on deal to buy rival Stockdale Securities January 27, 2019 City stockbroker Shore Capital Markets is set to complete a deal to buy rival Stockdale Securities in the next few weeks. The firms are in advanced talks for Shore Capital to purchase Stockdale for an undisclosed multi-million pound figure, Sky News reported, creating the second largest broker to clients on London’s Aim market. Sky News [...]
Private equity buyout deals soar more than 50 per cent in pre-Brexit rush January 24, 2019 Private equity buyout deals were up more than 50 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year driven by the pressure to complete agreements ahead of Brexit. Analysis of UK mid-market activity showed that the figure was 56 per cent higher that the fourth quarter of 2017, and activity levels hit a 10-year high. [...]
Santander cancels appointment of Orcel over compensation January 15, 2019 Banco Santander stunned the banking world this evening by announcing the reversal of its decision to appoint Andrea Orcel as its new chief executive because of the cost of compensating him for leaving his previous role. The bank had announced the high profile appointment of Orcel, former head of investment banking at UBS, in September. [...]
Budget airline Flybe shares nosedive despite revised bid from Virgin-led consortium January 15, 2019 Flybe shares nosedived again this morning as shareholders reacted to news they will not get a vote on a revised bid for the business from a Virgin-led consortium. Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and US private equity firm Cyrus Capital tabled a £2.8m bid for Flybe Limited and Flybe.com today after Friday’s £2.2m offer for the whole [...]