Germany emerges as main concern for London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse as UK government appears unopposed to merger February 21, 2017 German opposition to the London Stock Exchange’s tie-up with Deutsche Boerse is fast emerging as the main area of concern for the companies, given the UK government and European Commission are seemingly on board. Deutsche Boerse’s chief executive, Carsten Kengeter, is to host local German politicians at an exclusive venue in the state of Hesse [...]
Private equity houses battle it out for £500m UK IT services firm Claranet February 21, 2017 Private equity houses Blackstone and Inflexion are battling it out for a stake in a £500m-valued British IT services company, City A.M. has learned. US-based private equity firm Abry Partners is in the process of selling Claranet, which it invested in in 2012. Read more: Private equity giant buys majority stake in London cloud tech company [...]
UK politicians to have their say on London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Boerse deal February 20, 2017 British MPs are set to crank up the pressure on the London Stock Exchange over its merger with Deutsche Boerse tomorrow. Conservative MP Sir Bill Cash has secured a parliamentary debate for tomorrow discussing the future of the London Stock Exchange and exploring whether the deal could be blocked. Read more: Deutsche Boerse boss attempts [...]
Kraft Heinz’s withdrawn Unilever bid ranks as the world’s third largest collapsed M&A deal February 20, 2017 Kraft Heinz’s scrapped $140bn (£113bn) bid for Unilever marks the third biggest M&A collapse in history, according to Thomson Reuters figures. US food giant Kraft shocked the financial world on Sunday night, withdrawing the bid just two days after details of the deal leaked. Read more: Unilever share price plunges after deal talks with Kraft [...]
Why is M&A rising? The bigger the company, the more likely it is to survive February 20, 2017 Investor sentiment is still skyrocketing as Donald Trump continues his victory lap and investors revel in the fanfare. The markets are behaving as though the White House’s as-yet-undetailed economic policies will cure all ills, from the simmering uncertainty around French, Dutch and German elections to the biggest pain for chief executives – technology disruption. The [...]
Politicians must tread carefully on M&A intervention February 20, 2017 It is common in business and politics today to talk about "signals". Brexit is either a signal of our desire to cut ourselves off from the world, or a sign that we’re set to become a kind of expansionist high-seas merchant. From immigration to Donald Trump, foreign policy to international aid, perceptions are increasingly being [...]
Vehicle rental company backed by Bridgepoint to announce takeover of Coca-Cola truck provider February 20, 2017 A northern private equity-backed vehicle rental company is set to announce the takeover of a local rival that provides trucks to clients including Coca-Cola, City A.M. can reveal. Leeds-based Zenith, which private equity house Bridgepoint bought from HgCapital for £750m last month, has agreed a deal for CVL, which is also based in Leeds. Read more: Private equity [...]
Downing Street was up for a fight over the now scuppered $140bn Kraft Heinz-Unilever mega deal February 20, 2017 Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be. Many of us spent the weekend chewing over the early manoeuvres of what would have been one of the largest corporate deals ever, but by Sunday evening Kraft Heinz declared it was “amicably” walking away from its audacious bid to scoop up Unilever. In just 48 hours, a [...]
Marmite and Ketchup: the perfect combination? Kraft Heinz has made a £115bn merger offer for Unilever February 17, 2017 Processed cheese giant Kraft Heinz has made a $143bn (£115bn) merger offer for FTSE 100-listed UK food producer Unilever, it announced today. In a statement Kraft said Unilever had declined an initial offer to combine the two groups, but added they were still in talks. Under the offer, Unilever shareholders would receive $50 per share, in a [...]
99 problems? Not for this M&A bank, which recently advised on Jay Z deal February 16, 2017 An investment bank which recently advised on a Jay Z deal has reported record revenues for 2016. GCA has reported a turnover of £148m and earnings before interest and taxation of £27m for the year to 31 December. Read more: Boutique investment bank Zeus triumphs in biggest IPO of 2017 so far The results are the first [...]