Will fortune favour brave Bob Diamond’s Panmure Gordon takeover, Unilever’s flawed logic and the IoD’s Simon Walker heads back to his PR roots March 17, 2017 He's back – and brave. Conventional wisdom has it that smaller City brokers are destined either to merge or die, so a Bob Diamond-backed move for Panmure Gordon represents a bold bet that he and his partners can forge a fresh path for one of the broking world’s most venerable names. Boldness isn’t a fitting adjective [...]
Former Barclays boss Bob Diamond is readying a return to the City as part of a Qatar-backed takeover bid for Square Mile stockbroker Panmure Gordon March 16, 2017 Bob Diamond, the former chief executive of Barclays, is reportedly set to launch a takeover bid for Panmure Gordon, one of Britain's oldest stockbrokers. Diamond's private equity firm, Atlas Merchant Capital (AMC), and QInvest, a Qatari investment bank that currently owns 43 per cent of Panmure, will create a bid vehicle to make an offer, according [...]
Jupiter Asset Management chief executive Maarten Slendebroek plays down M&A rumours March 16, 2017 Jupiter Asset Management chief executive Maarten Slendebroek last night played down rumours it could become involved in anticipated industry consolidation. The recent Aberdeen Asset Management-Standard Life deal led to suggestions that there could be a flurry of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the fund management area. Read more: Standard Life-Aberdeen deal expected to spark [...]
21st Century Fox £12bn takeover of Sky has been referred to regulators Ofcom and the CMA by culture secretary Karen Bradley March 16, 2017 The bid by Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox to take over Sky has been referred to regulators by the culture secretary. Karen Bradley confirmed her decision this morning after already announcing she was “minded” to do so. Broadcast regulator Ofcom will examine “public interest considerations” and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) “jurisdiction issues”. Read more: Sky takeover [...]
AT&T wins European Commission approval for $85bn Time Warner deal but faces battle in the US March 15, 2017 US telecoms giant AT&T has won European Commission approval for its $85bn (£70bn) takeover deal for Time Warner. “We appreciate the skilled work of the European Commission’s team for their timely effort to analyse and clear the AT&T-Time Warner merger,” said Bob Quinn, senior executive vice president of AT&T external and legislative sffairs. Read more: [...]
Activist investor Chris Hohn tells Safran chairman: Pull €8.5bn Zodiac deal or we’ll try to oust you March 15, 2017 Chris Hohn’s activist hedge fund has called for a chairman to abandon a proposed €8.5bn (£7.4bn) takeover or face being ousted. The Children’s Investment (TCI) Fund has previously made clear its opposition to a deal under which French aircraft-engine maker Safran, in which it owns a 4.1 per cent stake, is due to buy plane [...]
Unilever shows that the Prime Minister must show her cards on takeovers by foreign companies March 15, 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May has talked tough on foreign takeovers and raised the prospect of a beefed-up national interest policy as fears rise about opportunistic takeovers on the back of the weaker pound. However, it is unclear how far the government would actually intervene in corporate dealmaking when it comes to the crunch. Ministers were [...]
Article 50, schmarticle 50: UK deal activity is booming, with a flurry of deals so far in 2017 March 14, 2017 The imminent triggering of Article 50 appears to be having no negative effect on UK mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with several major deals announced in recent weeks. New figures show British deal activity has been booming since the Brexit vote, and this year especially. This week’s Bovis bidding war, currently being fought by Galliford Try and [...]
Chris Hohn’s activist fund attacks Safran’s “enormously destructive” €8.5bn Zodiac takeover March 14, 2017 Chris Hohn’s activist hedge fund has had another bite at French aircraft-engine maker Safran over a planned €8.5bn (£7.4bn) takeover. The Children’s Investment (TCI) Fund, which owns a 4.1 per cent stake in Safran, publicised its opposition to the deal for plane-seat maker Zodiac last month, saying it had “no strategic rationale”. Safran hit back shortly [...]
Ithaca Energy shareholder urges fellow investors to reject $1.2bn Delek takeover and hold out for better deal March 14, 2017 A major shareholder in North Sea oil producer Ithaca Energy has issued a statement urging fellow investors to reject a $1.24bn (£1bn) takeover deal. Ithaca’s board accepted a bid from Delek Group, which is currently the company’s largest shareholder with a 19.7 per cent stake, in February. The deal values Ithaca’s share value at $646m and [...]