British Airways owner IAG makes third Aer Lingus takeover offer January 24, 2015 International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) has increased its takeover offer for Aer Lingus. The owner of British Airways and Spain’s Iberia has submitted a revised proposal to the Aer Lingus board that values the Irish carrier at €1.34bn (£971m) according to Sky News. IAG has already had two cash takeover bids of €2.30 and [...]
Aviva to cut 1,500 jobs in Friends Life takeover January 19, 2015 Aviva could axe up to 1,500 jobs as part of its £5.1bn acquisition of its rival Friends for Life, a move which would amount to 4.8 per cent of the combined companies' total work force. The FTSE 100 insurer said it is unable to provide specifics until the takeover completes, however it will try to [...]
China’s Hutchison Whampoa pushing ahead with £9bn O2 takeover talks January 18, 2015 Hutchison Whampoa, the owner of the UK’s fourth-largest mobile network Three, is continuing talks with Spain’s Telefonica to buy its UK network O2. Telefonica was in talks with BT to sell O2, valued at around £9bn, but the deal fell apart when BT opted for exclusive deal talks with Orange and Deutsche Telekom to buy [...]
BlackBerry share price falls back after it denies Samsung takeover talk January 14, 2015 Telecoms firm BlackBerry sent its shares back down by more than 16 per cent in after hours trading last night, after denying that it had engaged in talks with Samsung about a multi-billion dollar buyout. Reuters reported last night that smartphone manufacturer Samsung had sent high level executives to meet with BlackBerry equivalents last week [...]
Investec looks to M&A expansion as investment bank gets its Guy January 14, 2015 SOUTH African specialist banking and asset management group Investec yesterday added to its investment banking business with the appointment of veteran M&A adviser Guy Gillett. Working closely with head of consumer Gary Levin, Gillett is charged with strengthening Investec’s M&A offering, particularly focusing on private companies and private equity clients. Gillett joins from Ternion Capital, [...]
Onex looks to resuscitate UK’s Survitec with $680m takeover January 12, 2015 CANADIAN private equity firm Onex yesterday agreed to buy British marine, defence and aerospace survival equipment manufacturer Survitec from US buyout counterpart Warburg Pincus for $680m (£450m). The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015. Onex Partners IV will make an investment of approximately $320m for most of the equity [...]
Rangers rejects Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver’s revised £20m takeover bid January 12, 2015 Robert Sarver, the American financier and owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball franchise, has once again been disappointed by Rangers. In a statement this morning, the club rejected Sarver's revised offer of £20m for a majority stake in the Glasgow outfit. Rangers believes the offer wouldn't carry the support of the majority of the company's [...]
Shire to acquire NPS Pharma in $5.2bn merger January 11, 2015 UK company Shire is to aquire with NPS Pharmaceuticals, according to a statement by the companies. The two have entered into a merger agreement, with Shire buying all outstanding NPS shares for $46 (£30.48) each, with the total said to be at $5.2bn. According to the statement, Shire will look to accelerate NPS Pharma’s innovative [...]
Aer Lingus rejects latest takeover bid from British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines January 10, 2015 Once again, Irish airline Aer Lingus has rejected a takeover offer from International Consolidated Airlines (IAG). The holding company, which was set up by Willie Walsh and owns British Airways, upped its takeover offer to €2.40 (£1.88) a share at the end of December. Previously, IAG had made a bid of €2.30 a [...]
BGC Partners urges GFI shareholders to reject CME bid as it warns founder is “actively sabotaging” takeover offer January 9, 2015 US-based brokerage BGC Partners has written a letter to GFI Group shareholders asking them to reject a rival bid for the company, adding add that its attempt to buy the rival group has been "actively sabotaged" by its management. The letter recommended shareholders turn down a bid by CME Group, pointing out its own "fully [...]