FTSE 100 property firm slams ‘opportunistic, one-sided, inadequate’ takeover offer Property Real estate investment trust Segro has issued a strongly-worded rebuttal of the £12.6bn takeover bid tabled by its US rival. In a scathing updated to investors, the FTSE 100 property firm branded Prologis’s offer “opportunistic, one-sided and inadequate”, after the American investment behemoth proposed combining the two companies into a mammoth investment trust last month. [...]
Billionaire Easyjet founder in line for £800m payday from takeover Markets Easyjet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou could be in line for a bumper £800m payday as part of the airline’s proposed takeover by private equity firm Castlelake. The British-Cypriot entrepreneur, who founded the company in 1995, holds some 116m shares in the budget carrier and will net a huge payout should he decide to sell his [...]
Sky buys ITV broadcasting arm in £1.6bn deal Media Sky has confirmed it will take over ITV’s broadcasting arm for £1.6bn, in a move the media giant says will safeguard its role as a public service broadcaster. The US-owned broadcaster said on Monday it will pay £1.6bn in total for ITV Media and Entertainment, which include its free-to-air TV channels in the UK and [...]
Government intervenes on foreign takeover bids for UK defence firms July 2, 2026 Ministers have intervened in a flurry of foreign takeover attempts on British defence firms in the past year over concerns the bids posed a threat to national security, City AM can reveal. The government unit that scrutinises takeovers “called in” 24 proposed bids from foreign buyers between the first quarter of 2025 and the end [...]
London becomes activist capital of Europe as investors pressure firms over AI plans July 1, 2026 London has become the shareholder activist capital of Europe as boardrooms feel the heat of interventions from outspoken investors. The UK’s capital markets were the subject of a staggering 57 per cent of all European campaign activity in the first half of the year, fresh data has found, crossing the 50 per cent threshold for [...]
‘Sh*tloads to come’: London takeover spree set to accelerate June 29, 2026 At a gathering of some of London’s top bankers in the City of London last week, the mood was one of uncertainty. On the one hand, London’s dealmakers are not in want of work. In the past two weeks alone Easyjet has opened the door to an approach from American private equity firm Castlelake, Ramsdens [...]
HSBC bags £135m from former Silicon Valley Bank as job cuts push up restructuring bill June 24, 2026 The rescued UK wing of Silicon Valley Bank has paid another bumper dividend to HSBC as it racked up costs amid a sweeping restructure. HSBC Innovation Banking – the branding bestowed on the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVBUK) – was taken over by Europe’s largest lender in March 2023 as ministers, regulators and banking [...]
FTSE 100 Segro shares rocket as it fights off £12.6bn swoop by US real estate giant June 24, 2026 Real estate investment firm Segro has rejected a £12.6bn bid from a US fund looking to combine the two companies into one mammoth investment trust. Prologis said it had gone public with its offer in a bid to convince Segro shareholders to back the deal. As part of Prologis’ offer, Segro stocks would be valued [...]
Terry Smith sells Magnum stake weeks after Unilever salvo June 23, 2026 Star stockpicker Terry Smith has offloaded his entire holding in Unilever spin-off Magnum Ice Cream just weeks after exiting his stake in its former parent company, which he accused of abandoning the priorities of its long-term investors. Smith, the feted fund manager who runs the £12.7bn Fundsmith Equity Fund, dumped his stake in Amsterdam-listed Magnum [...]
Intertek to quit FTSE 100 after agreeing £11bn EQT takeover June 18, 2026 FTSE 100 giant Intertek has agreed to an £11bn takeover by Swedish buyout firm EQT, triggering the latest high-profile departure from the London Stock Exchange. The testing and assurance company said on Thursday that it has agreed to the £60 per share offer, valuing the deal at £9.5bn, or £10.9bn including debt. The agreement seals [...]