Catlin share price soars 10 per cent on £2.5bn takeover approach from XL Group December 17, 2014 Shares in insurer Catlin whizzed up 10 per cent today after the group said it is in talks with XL Group over a possible takeover which would value it at $3.9bn (£2.5bn). XL Group would pay 410 pence per share in cash and 0.130 share for each Catlin shares, the Lloyds of London insurer said [...]
Tui Travel completes merger with its German parent company December 17, 2014 Tui Travel has completed its merger with its German parent company Tui AG. Tui AG shares will be admitted to the London Stock Exchange with effect from 8:00am. From today, Tui AG shares will also trade on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Dr Klaus Mangold, chairman of the supervisory board of Tui AG, said: Tui and [...]
Dixons Carphone merger “a year ahead of schedule” as profits rise 30 per cent December 17, 2014 Dixons Carphone has got off to a good start. Not only have high-street rivals Phones 4U and Comet bitten the dust over the course of 2014, but the merger seems to have gone well, with pro forma profit before tax up 30 per cent in its first interim results and synergies are way ahead of [...]
O2 or EE? BT to announce preferred mobile operator in £10bn takeover “early next week” December 15, 2014 Mobile operators EE and O2 will this week learn whether they have won the billions of British Telecom (BT) in a takeover deal. Update: BT has confirmed it has entered into exclusive talks with EE According to a report in The Sunday Times, BT has this weekend been finalising a deal one of [...]
BT opts for EE over O2 as it enters exclusive talks over takeover worth £12.5bn December 15, 2014 BT has confirmed that it has entered into exclusive talks with mobile operator EE, which has seemingly beaten its rival O2 to the £12.5bn takeover deal. The telecoms giant said that the period of exclusivity "will last several weeks" to allow the necessary negotiations to be completed. The deal would be paid through a combination [...]
Walgreen’s chief Greg Wasson to retire after Alliance Boots mega-merger December 10, 2014 US drugstore chain operator Walgreen has said its chief executive Greg Wasson will retire after the completion of its pending takeover of Alliance Boots, owner of the UK high street pharmacy Boots. Stefano Pessina, executive chairman of Alliance Boots, will serve as acting chief executive after Wasson steps down. “With the creation of Walgreens Boots [...]
Blackstone mulls £1.5bn takeover of drinks bottler December 7, 2014 US PRIVATE equity giant Blackstone Group is considering a £1.5bn takeover bid for Refresco Gerber, Europe’s largest soft drinks bottler, it emerged yesterday. The US investment specialist is among several interested parties weighing up bids for the Anglo-Dutch company. Blackstone’s private equity rival KKR and CVC Partners are also rumoured to be circling, with bids [...]
Tui Travel posts soaraway profits in final results before merger December 4, 2014 UK TRAVEL operator Tui Travel yesterday reported a higher profit for its last financial year driven by strong demand in the UK, Germany and Netherlands for its higher margin “unique holidays”. The Thomson and First Choice owner said it had also halved losses from its French tour operating business. In its last set of results [...]
Tui share price rises ahead of merger with German parent December 4, 2014 Tui Travel has reported a three per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £472m ahead of its merger with parent company Tui AG. The travel company behind Thomson and First Choice posted operating profits of £612m, up four per cent on last year and an increase of 11 per cent to £654m on a constant [...]
As Aviva agrees a £5.6bn takeover of Friends Life, does the acquisition make strategic sense? December 2, 2014 Ben Cohen, an insurance analyst at Canaccord Genuity, says Yes. Aviva’s core strategy is “cash plus growth”, and this deal adds materially to cash flow, which will be used to pay a higher dividend and invest across the group for growth. This is not just jam tomorrow – the 30 per cent increase in Aviva’s [...]