Flexjet: Private jet giant valued at $4bn after mega funding round July 21, 2025 Flexjet, the world’s second-largest private jet company, has been valued at around $4bn (£2.9bn) after securing $800m in new funding. The US firm’s latest funding round has been led by private equity giant L Catterton – which itself is backed by luxury group LVMH. Other backers of the round include KSL Capital Partners and J. [...]
Reckitt sells majority stake in Air Wick and Cillit Bang arm July 18, 2025 Reckitt Benckiser has agreed to sell its Essential Home business to private equity investor Advent International for $4.8bn (£3.6bn). Essential Home includes the brands Air Wick, Calgon, Woolite and Cillit Bang. The FTSE 100 giant, which will retain a 30 per cent equity stake in the business, has been reshaping its business to focus on “11 high-growth, high-margin [...]
Zip World: Losses revealed ahead of £100m takeover July 15, 2025 Adventure park operator Zip World fell into the red before being acquired by a private equity firm in a deal worth £100m, it has been revealed. In January, City AM reported that the Wales-headquartered company had become the latest investment for Dolphin Capital. The firm currently runs eight sites in Wales, Manchester, Cumbria and London [...]
These charts show the scale of the London Stock Exchange’s decline July 9, 2025 In May, one of the London Stock Exchange’s smallest constituents decided to leave. Brighton Pier, which had been listed on the exchange’s AIM market with a £5m market cap, delisted and jumped ship to private securities venue JP Jenkins. “It’s something that had been building up for quite a while for the past several years,” [...]
Bensons for Beds: ‘It would have been easy for staff to lose heart’ July 3, 2025 Bensons for Beds has admitted it “would have been easy” for its employees to “lose heart” during its latest financial year which saw the chain battle a worsening retail environment. The Lancashire-headquartered business paid tribute to its more than 1,800 members of staff for what it called a “strong set of results”. Those results, for [...]
UK on track for biggest year of takeovers since 2021 July 2, 2025 The UK is on course for its biggest year of takeovers since 2021 as more and more companies exit the London stock market after being snapped up by private equity. As much as £74bn in offers was made to UK firms in the first half of the year, according to an analysis by Peel Hunt, [...]
Stock markets shrinking: where could investors turn for growth? July 1, 2025 Darktrace, Skechers, Royal Mail – more and more companies are being taken private. But investors needn’t miss out. Investing in private companies is no longer off-limits – and you can invest from just £10,000. Global stock markets are shrinking. Last year alone, they saw a net decline of over $120 billion – three times the total [...]
Cavendish chiefs: Markets need tax incentive to turn heads June 27, 2025 The bosses of investment bank Cavendish have joined calls to use more attractive tax policy to boost market listings, amid a waning backdrop for the London Stock Exchange. The London-listed company swung back into profit on Wednesday, but did so battling against woeful mergers and acquisition volumes. Takings from M&A slumped 55 per cent on [...]
CVC Capital Partners hire former EE boss to new sports arm June 26, 2025 CVC SportsCo, a new entity created by private equity giants CVC Capital Partners, has been bolstered by the hire of former mobile phone network EE boss Marc Allera. Allera will take a the role central to the firm’s sporting portfolio, which once owned Formula 1. The current CVC Capital Partners portfolio includes stakes in Premiership [...]
Visma to snub Amsterdam for London IPO in rare win for Britain’s stalling market June 26, 2025 Norwegian software giant Visma has provisionally selected London over Amsterdam for its upcoming IPO, a rare win for the UK’s shrinking public markets as the country battles to remain a viable home for high-growth tech listings. The €19bn firm – backed by British private equity firm Hg – has chosen the capital because of its [...]