Optimal Payments gets go ahead for €1bn Skrill takeover June 1, 2015 Optimal Payments came a step closer to its reverse takeover of Skrill yesterday after the firm said it had met several of the conditions necessary for the deal. The announcement is the latest sign of progress since Optimal stated its intention to conduct the reverse takeover, worth €1.1bn (£791m), in March. The deal will see [...]
Aveva expands portfolio with FabTrol buyout June 1, 2015 Aveva Group has agreed to acquire Oregon-based software firm FabTrol in a deal worth $6.5m (£4.2m), it announced yesterday. FabTrol, which is currently owned by Dowco Group, specialises in the provision of management software for the steel fabrication industry. Aveva views the acquisition as a way of further integrating this technology into its existing Bocad [...]
Equinix finalises £2.35bn Telecity merger May 29, 2015 US data centre firm Equinix has finalised a deal for UK-based rival Telecity, the group confirmed early this morning. Read more: Bidding war for Telecity as rival offers £2.31bn The deal, worth £2.35bn, will bring Telecity's executive chairman John Hughes – awarded a CBE for international telecommunications – onto the Equinix board. Telecity had previously been [...]
Avago share price soars as $37bn Broadcom takeover is confirmed May 28, 2015 Avago Technologies has sealed a $37bn acquisition of fellow semiconductor company Broadcom to create an industry giant with estimated annual revenues of $15bn. Singapore-based Avago is paying $17bn in cash and $20bn worth of its own shares (making it the largest ever merger of chipmakers) to fund the deal for the US firm which builds [...]
UK M&A firms punching above their weight: Being bold, moving fast and paying cash key to takeover triumphs May 27, 2015 The study examined 265,000 deals over 20 years Companies pursuing aggressive merger and acquisition strategies deliver higher returns for shareholders than firms which act with more caution, a study finds. Businesses offering all-cash bids, and those that pursue overseas targets and avoid large transformational deals outperform their peers on a total shareholder return [...]
Liberty’s John Malone nets his prey with Time Warner and Bright House Networks takeover blitz May 26, 2015 John Malone's Liberty empire owns scores of media assets around the globe, including Virgin Media in the UK Cable kingpin John Malone ended his long running pursuit of Time Warner Cable (TWC) yesterday by engineering a $90bn (£59bn) takeover blitz to create the US’s second biggest cable operator. Charter Communications, a vehicle of Malone’s [...]
Charter Communications confirms $55bn takeover of Time Warner Cable May 26, 2015 Charter Communications has finalised its $55bn (£36bn) takeover of Time Warner Cable. The cable mega-deal, which valued Time Warner Cable at $78.7bn, will create the second-largest cable and broadcasting company in the US behind industry leader Comcast. Backed by billionaire media investor John Malone, Charter has beaten Comcast to the cable business with a superior [...]
Japan Tobacco to sell £798m drink business to Suntory Beverage & Food May 25, 2015 Suntory Beverage & Food announced yesterday its intention to purchase Japan Tobacco Inc.’s drink and vending and machine businesses for close to ¥150bn (£798m). As part of the deal, Japan Tobacco which owns the Camel and Amber Leaf cigarette brands in the UK, will offload its shares in its subsidiaries Japan Beverage Holdings and JT [...]
Chrysler shares slide after GM merger rebuke May 25, 2015 SHARES in Fiat Chrysler slipped yesterday after reports a potential merger with General Motors (GM) has been rebuffed. The news follows an article in the New York Times which suggested Fiat Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne had proposed a deal with GM in March, only for his counterpart, Mary Barra to flat out refuse such [...]
Choice, transparency and M&A: FCA outlines terms for investment banking probe May 22, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says it will focus on wide-ranging subjects when it launches a study into the investment and corporate banking market. In a statement today, the FCA said its investigation, which will build on a wholesale sector competition review published in February, will look at "choice, transparency, bundling and cross-subsidisation in debt [...]