Activist investor pushes for boost to Steinhoff’s offer for Poundland August 7, 2016 US activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors is threatening to derail Steinhoff’s £597m bid for Poundland unless the offer is improved. Elliott increased its stake in Poundland to around 17.5 per cent just days after Poundland’s board agreed to the 222p a share cash takeover offer. Read more: Steinhoff increases Poundland holding despite Brexit vote The offer [...]
Losses increase at Fitness First as owners pour in more cash August 7, 2016 Operating losses at Fitness First spiked nearly six times for the year to October 2015 according to recently filed accounts. The Poole-based operator burnt through £25.7m of cash during the year, offset by drawing down on £47.5m of loan facilities. "Over the past three financial years, cash flows have been significantly impacted by the capital refurbishment programme, [...]
Qatari bank reluctant to part with stake in Panmure Gordon August 7, 2016 Panmure Gordon’s biggest shareholder is reluctant to part with its stake in the London-listed stockbroker, City A.M. understands. QInvest, a Qatari investment bank, owns a 43.4 per cent stake in Panmure and is understood to have rejected approaches for its shares from WMG, a fund controlled by Cardiff City Football Club chairman Mehmet Dalman. Read more: Panmure [...]
Why slashed interest rates could provide another M&A boost after Brexit August 5, 2016 UK deal activity could be boosted by the Bank of England’s interest rates cut, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) experts have suggested. As well as cutting interest rates from 0.5 to 0.25 per cent on Thursday, the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) also unleashed an extension of quantitative easing which could pump an extra £170bn of newly-printed [...]
More trouble for London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Boerse, as European investors group opposes merger to create “quasi-monopolistic” group August 5, 2016 A European investors trade body has written to the European Commission to say it is “highly concerned” about the implications of the London Stock Exchange-Deutsche Boerse merger. "The merger swiftly creates a long lasting position of ‘super’ dominance for LSE/DB and therefore poses a direct threat to the freedom of choice for (future) listed companies [...]
Why UK M&A activity is on the rise despite Brexit vote fears August 5, 2016 Figures recently released by Thomson Reuters have shown that widespread concern about M&A activity slowing down as a result of Brexit has very much been unfounded. In the first half of 2016, as the Brexit vote loomed, M&A activity was tailing off due to uncertainty in the corporate world, and experts were warning that the [...]
Hundreds of UK jobs at risk as AB InBev announces Belgium move for SABMiller HQ August 4, 2016 Hundreds of UK jobs at SABMiller are thought to be at risk as part of the company's merger with Anheuser-Busch InBev. Budweiser maker AB InBev today confirmed the merged company's headquarters will be in Leuven, Belgium, with a functional office in New York. Read more: Megabrew: AB InBev and SABMiller expect to seal the deal in October [...]
Singapore Exchange agrees £77.6m deal for London’s Baltic Exchange August 4, 2016 The Singapore Exchange has agreed a £77.6m takeover deal for the London-based Baltic Exchange. The £160.41 per share offer has been agreed after months of exclusive discussions between the companies. The Singapore Exchange said in a statement that, as part of the deal, Baltic shareholders will also receive at least £18.80 in cash as a final dividend. [...]
Stock exchange makes commitment to London amid merger HQ doubts August 4, 2016 The London Stock Exchange has insisted the City will remain the home of its joint headquarters with Deutsche Boerse under the terms of their £21bn deal. Any changes to the location of the merged entity’s holding company, the London location of which was thrown into doubt after the UK’s Brexit vote, could not be made before the [...]
Twitter’s share price takes flight on buyout rumours August 3, 2016 Shares in micro-blogging site Twitter have jumped today on rumours former Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer and Saudi investor Prince Al-Waleed Bin-Talal could make a buyout offer for the company. Shares are up by over eight per cent in New York, climbing to $17.72 after falling as low as $15.77 in July. Twitter shares hit an all time low of [...]