Lafarge-Holcim list asset sales for merger plan July 7, 2014 Lafarge and Holcim yesterday unveiled a bumper list of proposed asset disposals as part of their planned mega-merger, which the cement giants hope will satisfy anti-trust regulators worldwide. France’s Lafarge and Swiss firm Holcim unveiled a share-for-share deal in April, which would create a self-proclaimed “merger of equals” with sales of €32bn (£26.5bn). The firms [...]
CNBC Comment: Private equity M&A is still a risky game July 7, 2014 Deal after deal, the first six months of 2014 was a bumper period for mergers and acquisitions. But this deal fever, combined with private equity exits, has led bears to warn of a market top. Is it a matter of time before scalps are claimed, or are the players savvier this time round and [...]
National insurance and income tax merger could get UK support June 30, 2014 Merging income tax and national insurance could be supported by the public, according to work announced today by PwC. The firm arranged for a jury of 22 representative members of the public to discuss taxation for two days, and the group expressed support for the idea of merging the two taxes on income. The panel [...]
Dixons profits surge ahead of Carphone Warehouse merger June 26, 2014 Dixons Retail, the owner of Currys and PC World, has reported a jump in profit before tax of 76 per cent to £166.2m for the financial year ended 30 April. Online sales were a particularly bright spot, rising by 16 per cent to £1bn, while customer service metrics reached their highest recorded levels in all [...]
Carphone Warehouse and Dixons merger cleared by EU Commission June 25, 2014 A big question mark over one of the most prominent high street deals in years can now be removed. Carphone Warehouse has announced that the European Commission has unconditionally cleared a merger between the company and Dixons. An all-share merger deal was first announced on 15 May, and it's taken until now for the European [...]
M&A boom as deals up 35 pc on 2013 June 24, 2014 Global M&A volume was up 35 per cent in the six months of 2014, the biggest first-half of a year for dealmaking since 2007, according to data from Dealogic. The figure for mergers and acquisitions globally reached $1.75 trillion in the first half of 2014, an increase of 35 per cent from $1.30 trillion last year. The last [...]
Shares in BSkyB drop by 2.4pc as European merger talks confirmed May 12, 2014 INVESTORS yesterday shunned Rupert Murdoch’s plans to create a new satellite TV giant in Europe, sending shares in BSkyB 2.4 per cent lower after the group confirmed it is in talks with 21st Century Fox to buy its stakes in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. The deal, which analysts say could be worth up to £8.8bn [...]
Carphone stays quiet on merger as revenues rise April 29, 2014 MOBILE phone retailer Carphone Warehouse stayed silent yesterday on the progress of its potential £4bn merger with Dixons Retail as it posted a rise in fourth quarter revenues across its core business. The group did not comment on its talks with Dixons Retail, however discussions are understood to be progressing well with an announcement expected [...]
CNBC Comment: It’s vive la difference for European M&A April 28, 2014 CAN THERE be a clearer illustration of the difference between French and British attitudes to business than this week’s M&A headlines? Once again, the French have been accused of erecting the barricades to repel an Anglo-Saxon corporate takeover, while there is a deafening silence in Westminster about a jewel in British pharma potentially being gobbled [...]
Three hurdles the Publicis-Omnicom merger faces April 28, 2014 The $35bn mega-merger of Publicis and Omnicom is facing continued uncertainty. Omnicom chief executive John Wren said last week that he was unsure when the deal would complete due to its “complexity and open issues”. There are three main issues that have yet to be ironed out by management of the new company, to be [...]