KPMG fined £13m over Silentnight sale misconduct August 5, 2021 The accounting firm has been fined and ordered to pay over £2.75m in costs, for serious misconduct in its role in the 2011 sale of bed retailer Silentnight to a private equity group. An independent tribunal found that KPMG and one of its partners did not comply with the UK professional accounting principles of objectivity [...]
PE firm TriSpan acquires Pho restaurants after Gresham House Ventures exit August 3, 2021 TriSpan has acquired a significant majority stake in UK Vietnamese restaurant group Pho, after Gresham House Ventures exited its investment in the chain on Monday. The global PE firm has invested in Pho through its dedicated restaurant fund Rising Stars. It represents the fund’s third investment in the UK, following Rosa’s Thai Café and Thunderbird [...]
Kick in the teeth: Gopher ‘highly disappointed’ as Playtech rebukes Finalto offer August 3, 2021 Gopher Investments this morning expressed extreme disappointment in the board of Playtech’s decision to reject its offer for Finalto and recommend a lower offer from a consortium of Israeli investors. Gopher, which owns a 4.97 per cent stake in online gaming and gambling software provider Playtech, said it was “highly disappointed” in the Playtech board’s [...]
Wave of dealmaking sees private equity investment in UK soar to highest level in five years August 3, 2021 Private equity deal value and volumes in the first half of the year rose to levels not seen since 2017, as investors gained confidence in post-pandemic recovery. There was a marked interest in mid-market private equity dealmaking, as funds competed for quality assets and completed 377 deals in the first six months of the year, [...]
Sanne Group in advanced takeover talks with Apex after £1.49bn bid August 2, 2021 London’s Sanne Group is in advanced talks with fund servicer Apex Group on a possible cash takeover bid of up to £1.49bn. At 920 pence per share, the offer values the UK asset manager at around £1.49bn and represents a premium of 9 per cent on Sanne’s share closing price of 844.0 pence on Friday. [...]
Carlyle raises $10.4bn in second quarter as pursues largest ever private equity fund July 29, 2021 Global investment firm The Carlyle Group took in $10.4bn from investors in the second quarter and nearly doubled its earnings, as it looks to raise what would represent the industry’s biggest ever buyout fund. Carlyle posted robust second quarter distributable earnings growth on Thursday, rising to $395.4m from $198.4m in the same period last year. [...]
Morrisons’ biggest shareholder refuses to back £6.3bn Fortress-led takeover bid July 27, 2021 Morrisons’ largest shareholder has announced “it is not inclined to support” a £6.3bn takeover bid by a consortium led by SoftBank-owned Fortress. Silchester International Investors, which owns 15.1 per cent of Morrisons, said in a statement on Tuesday evening that “there is little in the recommended offer that could not be achieved by Morrison as [...]
Cash holdings: UK corporates’ £109bn warchest increasingly a rival to private equity in M&A July 26, 2021 UK corporates have seen their aggregate net cash holdings rise from £20bn to £109bn since March 2020 and the start of the Covid pandemic, a jump of 500 per cent. The build up in cash balances has been so dramatic that UK corporates are increasingly seen as a serious rival to private equity funds in [...]
Carlyle seeks to raise up to $27bn in largest ever private equity fund July 23, 2021 Global investment firm The Carlyle Group is looking to raise as much as $27bn in what would represent the industry’s biggest ever buyout fund. Carlyle is in discussions with investors about the size of the fund, according to Bloomberg reports citing insiders, which could see the total change. If the buyout group achieves its target [...]
Archie Norman granted £1.75m ‘singing-on’ fee to join board of Bridgepoint July 22, 2021 Chairman of M&S Archie Norman has been offered a rare signing-on fee of £1.75m to join the board of newly floated buyout group Bridgepoint as the senior independent director. As Bridgepoint took the unusual step of listing on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Norman’s onboarding fee was buried in registration documents detailing the terms [...]