Deutsche Boerse boss in warning over London Stock Exchange deal hurdles: “It is still not clear at all that everything will work out” December 9, 2016 The chief executive of Deutsche Boerse has warned “it is still not clear at all that everything will work out” in relation to the German company’s merger with the London Stock Exchange. The exchange operators, which agreed to the £21bn deal in March, are awaiting a statement of objections to the deal next week from [...]
National Grid is planning a special dividend after the £14bn sale of its gas network December 8, 2016 Subsidiaries of China and Qatar's sovereign wealth funds are among the investors who have bought a 61 per cent stake in National Grid’s gas pipelines for £13.8bn, which will see £4bn returned to shareholders. National Grid said it had sold a 61 per cent equity interest in its NG Gas Distribution to a consortium of investors called the Quad [...]
Brexit vote hits deal numbers in third quarter December 6, 2016 The total number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving UK companies in the three months to September almost halved from the previous quarter. The data from the Office of National Statistics is the first indication of how deal activity has been impacted following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union in June’s referendum. In total, [...]
GoDaddy has beaten out the competition to buy Host Europe Group for $1.8bn December 6, 2016 Website domain name provider GoDaddy is buying rival Host Europe Group (HEG) for €1.69bn (£1.42bn) including debt. The move is designed to help accelerate GoDaddy’s international expansion and grow its services beyond the initial set-up of websites. Host Europe is currently owned by private-equity firm Cinven, which picked up the business in August 2013, and has a debt [...]
Chinese takeover activity in UK and beyond set to accelerate further, despite political rhetoric and Brexit vote December 5, 2016 Edinburgh-based flights search website Skyscanner and West Bromwich Albion Football Club have been among the high-profile UK targets gobbled up by Chinese businesses this year. With most of December still to come, China-to-UK mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity has already hit record levels. To date, 31 deals worth $7.65bn (£6.01bn) have been agreed, according to [...]
More Skyscanner, Arm and LinkedIn deals are on the way, say tech dealmakers December 2, 2016 Flight-booking website Skyscanner, chip designer Arm Holdings and professional social media site LinkedIn have been among the high-profile technology takeover targets of 2016. And we should expect to see plenty more next year, according to a survey by law firm Morrison & Foerster (which, in a rather hip-hop fashion, shortens its name to MoFo). Half [...]
International consortium pipes up with offer for National Grid’s £11bn-valued gas network in time for final bids deadline November 28, 2016 An international consortium today tabled an offer for a majority stake in the National Grid’s £11bn-plus-valued gas distribution network, with the final bidding round now closed. The Grid is aiming to agree a deal for the 51 per cent stake before Christmas and wants to complete the sale in the first quarter of next year. [...]
JD Sports share price rises as it announces Go Outdoors Topco acquisition November 28, 2016 Shares in JD Sports were up three per cent mid-morning after the retailer announced it had bought outdoor pursuits chain Go Outdoors. JD Sports paid £112.3m cash consideration, and has assumed net debt of around £16m as part of the transaction, which it had been pursuing for months. The retailer said the deal will complement [...]
Meet the Edmond de Rothschild asset manager who launched a UK-focused fund just before the referendum (and doesn’t regret it) November 27, 2016 With the European Union referendum just two months away, April 2016 may have seemed like a bold time for a European asset manager to launch a new fund focusing exclusively on the UK – even if it looked like we were headed for a Remain vote. Shares in companies such as ITV, BT, and Marks [...]
Here’s what Skyscanner’s biggest shareholder had to say about £1.4bn sale November 24, 2016 The biggest shareholder in unicorn tech startup Skyscanner, snapped up by Chinese firm Ctrip for £1.4bn, has told City A.M. the deal is a good one for the UK's tech industry, just a day after chancellor Philip Hammond announced measures to counter the trend of the UK's brightest companies selling rather than scaling up. "This is [...]