The most gripping private equity tale of 2017? Japanese tyre firm agrees £215m takeover deal for British counterpart January 5, 2017 A Japanese tyre company has agreed a £215m takeover deal for a UK counterpart. Private equity firm Graphite Capital today announced the sale of Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) to Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI), Japan’s sixth largest tyre manufacturer. Graphite said the sale represents a 3.7 times return on its individual investment. The private equity house originally backed [...]
Mega-deals help boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw nearly double revenue and profits January 4, 2017 Megabrew, the London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Boerse merger and Royal Dutch Shell's takeover of BG Group helped boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw nearly double its profits and revenue last year. In the year to 31 March 2016, the company reported a turnover of £43.3m, up from £23.9m the year before. Profits increased from £19.4m to £36.6m. Read more: [...]
Sparkling plan: Private equity owner of jewellery company Aurum considering stock market float as well as sale January 4, 2017 The London Stock Exchange could be be set for another jewel in its crown. The private equity owner of high-class jeweller Aurum Holdings, which is behind high street chain Goldsmiths, is considering options for floating the company. Apollo Global Management, which acquired the firm for a reported £180m in 2012, has appointed Jefferies bankers to [...]
Investment banking fees plunged in 2016, but analysts predict 2017 pick-up January 4, 2017 Global investment banking fees fell seven per cent last year, with the UK’s plunging even further, thanks to a decline in flotations, equity raisings and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity. However, the decline was less marked in the second half of 2016, and analysts are predicting a recovery this year. Thomson Reuters found global investment banking [...]
The tastiest deal of 2017? Ginsters owner confirms deal for West Cornwall Pasty Co January 4, 2017 We may only be a four days in to 2017, but there is already a contender for the tastiest – or, at least, stodgiest – deal of the year. Samworth Brothers, the company behind Ginsters, has reached an agreement to acquire West Cornwall Pasty Co. The deal will mean increased competition for Greggs. Read more: New [...]
Mastercard’s £700m Vocalink deal raises competition concerns with watchdog January 4, 2017 Mastercard's £700m deal for Vocalink has raised concerns over competition in the payments infrastructure business with the market watchdog. Owned by a collective of 18 banks, including Barclays, Santander, Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC, Vocalink provides the infrastructure for many payments in Britain such as Bacs and the Faster Payments Service as well as the Link ATM network. Concerns have [...]
This is how much UK and global deal activity dropped in 2016 after a record-breaking 2015 January 3, 2017 The UK, hit by uncertainty around Brexit, led a decline in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity last year. New figures released yesterday show that M&A deal values totalled $3.84 trillion (£3.13 trilion) in 2016, down 18 per cent from a record $4.66 trillion in 2015. Read more: After subdued 2016, these bankers are calling a 2017 [...]
Euronext boss happy with clearing buy despite deal helping London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Boerse “monopoly” merger January 3, 2017 Euronext’s chief executive believes his company is in a win-win situation after it agreed a €510m (£433m) deal for the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) French clearing arm, LCH SA. The deal is tied to the LSE’s £21bn merger with Deutsche Boerse. The LSE put LCH SA up for sale in September to help its merger go [...]
Play time’s over: Private equity firm 3i sells Scandinavian toy and education company January 3, 2017 FTSE 100 private equity firm 3i today announced it had agreed to sell a Scandinavian toy company. The group has signed a preliminary agreement to offload Lekolar to Swedish investment company Nalka Invest. Read more: 3i sells debt management business to InvestCorp The deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will see 3i generate proceeds [...]
Ready, Aim, acquire: Junior market takeovers boosted by fall of sterling in 2016 January 3, 2017 Takeovers of companies listed on London’s junior market jumped by a fifth in 2016, new analysis out today shows. Over the year, 34 companies on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim) were snapped up, an increase from 28 in 2015, according to accountancy group UHY Hacker Young. Aim companies proved particularly attractive in the last quarter [...]