British American Tobacco backing $56bn merger July 14, 2014 BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) is set to wade into one of the biggest tobacco deals in the industry’s history this week as it looks to up its stake in Reynolds as part of an expected $56bn (£32.7bn) mega-merger between Lorillard and Reynolds. BAT, which currently holds a 42 per cent stake in Reynolds, on Friday [...]
The Aussie boss eyeing an M&A avalanche July 14, 2014 Progility boss Wayne Bos tells Michael Bow how he plans to take on the UK M&A market In the late 1990s Wayne Bos, the Australian executive chairman of training provider Progility, had just helped complete the management buyout of a division from London blue chip ICI when the telephone rang. It was a corporate adviser [...]
Reynolds and Lorillard merger to light up tobacco industry July 11, 2014 Reynolds American and Lorillard look set to complete their merger, bringing together the US's biggest tobacco companies and shaking up the UK order. The two companies have a combined market capitalisation of $56bn. British American Tobacco holds a 42 per cent stake in Reynolds and Imperial Tobacco has announced an intention to buy assets from [...]
Barclays appoints Matthew Ponsonby as new European M&A boss July 8, 2014 Barclays has shuffled its top dealmaking staff, naming Matthew Ponsonby has the new head of European mergers and acquisitions following the departure of Mark Warham. Ponsonby held the role as co-head until 2013 when he became chief operating officer for banking. Gary Posternack will be global head of M&A.
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 [...]