Canada firm to buy Dell-EMC unit for $1.62bn September 12, 2016 Opentext Corp, a Canadian business software maker, is buying Dell-EMC’s enterprise content division for $1.62bn (£1.21bn). The move is one of the last remaining non-core asset disposals Dell needs to make following its deal to acquire data storage company EMC for $63bn last year, the largest tech deal in history. Opentext is looking to expand its [...]
UK private equity firm’s shares leap after £1bn US takeover offer September 12, 2016 UK private equity company SVG Capital’s share price jumped 15 per cent today after US rival HarbourVest made a more than £1bn takeover offer. The all-cash offer of 650p per share values existing issued share capital at around £1.015bn. The company said the offer is “highly attractive”, saying it represents a 14.7 per cent premium on SVG’s [...]
Who knew printers were still a billion dollar business? HP and Samsung, that’s who September 12, 2016 Apparently, we haven't gone fully down the digital rabbit hole yet and still need to print things out on dead trees. It's a business worth at least $1.05bn (£792m), in fact, as HP snapped up Samsung's printer business for just that amount in a major deal on Monday morning. Samsung will spin off the business as part of its efforts to [...]
Go Compare to go its own way in Esure demerger September 11, 2016 Go Compare will be spun off from its parent company, Esure, in a £500m demerger to be announced this week, according to reports. Sky News reported this evening the board of insurance group Esure will approve the deal to offload Go Compare and make a formal announcement to the stock market within the next few days. The move follows [...]
Sumo Digital bought by small and medium-sized business investment specialist September 11, 2016 A private equity fund focussed on investing in the north of England made a healthy return by selling the video game developer behind Sonic and Sega All Star Racing. NorthEdge sold Sumo Digital to London-based private equity house Perwyn. Read more: Struggling retailer Game Digital's stock dips after new chairman appointed The sale sees NorthEdge realise a return that [...]
UK bidder urges government to keep Green Investment Bank in British hands as it faces battle with Australia’s Macquarie September 11, 2016 A UK investment banking group is hoping to convince the government that the Green Investment Bank (GIB) should remain in British hands as the bidding process moves into a two-horse race. Sustainable Development Capital (SDC) is understood to be in competition with Australian bank Macquarie as the government prepares to privatise the £4bn-valued GIB. Read [...]
Micro Focus’s HP deal hailed as post-Brexit statement of confidence from British business September 8, 2016 British company Micro Focus revealed an $8.8bn (£6.6bn) takeover of the software division of US giant Hewlett Packard yesterday, with the audacious swoop hailed as an assertion of post-Brexit confidence and a landmark deal for the UK tech sector. City analysts said the deal also signalled a “change from the post-Brexit dialogue of UK businesses [...]
Steinhoff buys South African shoe shop Tekkie Town and increases annual profits September 8, 2016 The new owner of Poundland has bought a South African shoe shop chain and reported a 32 per cent rise in annual operating profit. Steinhoff announced on Wednesday that it had agreed to buy Tekkie Town, a retailer with 302 stores across South Africa, but it did not disclose how much it paid for the business. The deal is expected to complete by [...]
Fyffes tucks into its second portion of mushrooms after taking purchases past £100m for the year September 8, 2016 Banana-giant Fyffes announced its second foray into the mushroom market this year after revealing it had purchased Canadian producer All Seasons for CA$59m (£34m). Irish-based importer Fyffes mushroomed its Canadian portfolio in April when it purchased Highline Produce Limited for CA$145m. It funded the purchased through drawing down on new and existing debt. The All Seasons purchase was also [...]
Bayer’s share price jumps two per cent as shareholders react to news of “advanced” Monsanto talks September 6, 2016 Bayer’s share price jumped two per cent today after the company announced it was in “advanced” talks to acquire US seeds firm Monsanto. The German chemicals giant’s bid now stands $127.50 per share, or around $65bn (£49bn). This is an improvement on previous offers of $122 and $125, which have been rejected by Monsanto. But [...]