Merger Monday: Big deal developments spark hopes of M&A pick-up this autumn August 22, 2016 Global deals valued at nearly $65bn (£49.5bn) cleared a series of major hurdles yesterday, amid hopes of a renewed drive in worldwide mergers and acquisitions next month. US pharmaceutical company Pfizer agreed a $14bn deal for San Francisco-based Medivation, which specialises in cancer treatments. It came as a welcome boost to the pharma giant whose [...]
TalkSport owner reports falling profits ahead of takeover by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp August 22, 2016 Wireless Group, which has agreed a deal to be sold to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, has reported falling profits in the first half of 2016. The figures The owner of TalkSport, which sold its TV business to ITV for £100m in February, reported group revenue from continuing operations of £38.2m in the six months to [...]
Baltic Exchange to keep London HQ as it agrees terms of Singapore takeover August 22, 2016 The Singapore Exchange has agreed the terms of its takeover of the City of London-based Baltic Exchange. Under the terms of the deal, Singapore would pay £160.41 per share in cash and £19.30 per share as a special dividend. It gives the Baltic Exchange a total value of around £87m. The terms of the deal [...]
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer agrees $14bn deal for Medivation August 22, 2016 US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has agreed a deal to acquire San Francisco-based Medivation for $14bn (£10.7bn). Pfizer has announced it will pay $81.50 per share in cash for the biopharamaceutical company, which focuses on developing and commercialising small molecules for oncology. Medivation's share price was up 20 per cent in pre-market trading to $67.16 at the time of writing. The [...]
Datwyler won’t increase its takeover offer for Raspberry Pi maker Premier Farnell August 22, 2016 An original bid to takeover the maker of the Raspberry Pi mini-computer will not be increased, the company behind the offer said today. Swiss manufacturer Datwyler will not up its bid of 165 pence per share after US tech firm Avent swooped in with a a higher offer of 185 pence per share. Datwyler will now [...]
ITV’s takeover offer for EOne not nearly pig enough for investors August 21, 2016 ITV is likely to have to raise its bid for Entertainment One (EOne) by at least 20 per cent if it is to tempt the owner of Peppa Pig, reports suggest. The broadcaster had a 236p-per-share – equal to around £1bn – offer turned down by EOne, a Canadian company listed in London, earlier this month. It has [...]
Intercontinental Exchange questions UK competition watchdog concerns over Trayport takeover August 18, 2016 The owner of the New York Stock Exchange has questioned the justification of the British competition authority’s concerns over its Trayport takeover. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) should consider reversing its $650m (£495m) deal for Trayport, a commodities trading software operation. Read more: US rival pulled London Stock Exchange [...]
TalkSport owner shareholders accept takeover by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp August 18, 2016 The takeover of TalkSport owner Wireless by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has become “unconditional”, the companies have announced. Wireless has received 92.17 per cent backing from shareholders for the takeover, which will lead to the company being delisted from the Irish Stock Exchange. Read more: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp to buy TalkSport owner for £220m [...]
Telegraph not for sale, say owners after rebuffing approaches from two high-profile media figures August 17, 2016 The owners of the Daily Telegraph have reiterated that their newspapers are not for sale after it emerged that two high-profile media figures have approached them about the company this year. Evgeny Lebedev, the owner of the Evening Standard and now online-only Independent newspapers, is understood to have made an informal approach over the availability of Telegraph [...]
They’ve got chemistry: UK private equity firm snaps up German catalyst maker August 17, 2016 UK private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in a German chemical initiators company. Equistone has acquired the stake in United Initiators from Vision Capital and Speyside Equity for an undisclosed sum. United Initiators, which is based in Pullach, Germany, produces catalysts for chemical processes. Read more: Private [...]