WPP mergers fall amid restructuring plan despite increase in deals across sector January 16, 2019 Advertising giant WPP saw its M&A activity halve last year, despite a rise in the total number of deals among marketing communication firms. WPP completed 15 deals in 2018, down from 30 the year before, according to research by Results International. Read more: Brexit, ad fraud and #MeToo – what does the future year hold for [...]
Billionaire Reuben Brothers check out of hotel group Belmond in $300m deal January 16, 2019 The billionaire Reuben Brothers have sold their shares in New York-listed hotel company Belmond in a deal that could net them more than $300m (£236m). Belmond was acquired last month by Paris-based LVMH, which owns luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, in a $3.2bn deal, seeing off competition from private equity buyers. [...]
Investcorp teams up with Coller Capital for $1bn private equity buyout fund January 14, 2019 Investcorp has teamed up with Coller Capital to create a $1bn (£778m) European private equity buyout fund. London-based Coller Capital will use its current fund, Coller International Partners VII, to underwrite the new investment vehicle which will invest in European mid-market companies. Read more: 3i sells debt business as part of strategic focus away from [...]
Mark Kleinman’s big predictions for the Square Mile in 2019 January 11, 2019 Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP exit, Unilever’s HQ U-turn, Melrose’s swoop for GKN: 2018 was a year full of surprises in the City. And while forecasting might be a fool’s errand, here are 10 predictions for the year ahead. •Theresa May will decisively lose next week’s “meaningful vote” on Brexit: that’s not a punt that will [...]
City Moves for Thursday 10 January: Who’s switching jobs at Newton Investment Management, Kirkland & Ellis and KPMG? January 10, 2019 Newton Investment Management Newton Investment Management (Newton IM), part of BNY Mellon Investment Management (BNY Mellon IM), announced the appointment of Jin Philips as head of strategic relationships EMEA. In this role, Jin will be responsible for directing Newton IM’s sales strategy across UK institutional and charity channels and EMEA-partnered distribution relationships. Jin will report [...]
European private equity deal value rises while UK falls behind January 9, 2019 Private equity deal value increased across Europe last year, except in the UK where value was 34 per cent lower than in 2017. Large cap deals dropped in the UK, bucking the trend for the rest of the continent, as bigger businessesfelt more vulnerable to Brexit uncertainty, analysts said. The value of European private equity deals hit [...]
Pantheon opens Dublin office as part of Brexit planning January 8, 2019 Investment firm Pantheon has opened a Dublin office in order to continue doing business within the EU after Brexit. The private equity, infrastructure, real assets and debt investor, which has $42.3bn assets under management, is authorised as an EU Alternative Investment Fund Manager in Ireland, and the five-strong team will be lead by chief executive [...]
Asset managers to move away from equities in 2019 amid fears of economic downturn January 7, 2019 Funds are set to cut their exposure to equities in 2019 as worries grow about a downturn in the economic cycle, a new survey showed. Over half of clients surveyed by asset manager Blackrock described the economic cycle turning as one of the most important macro risks influencing where they put their money in 2019. [...]
Bowmark Capital closes £600m UK-focused fund amid Brexit uncertainty January 3, 2019 Private equity firm Bowmark Capital has raised £600m to invest in UK companies, indicating investor confidence in British business despite Brexit uncertainty. A total of 44 per cent of the capital has come from European investors, and 35 was invested from North America, the company said. The Bowmark Capital Partners VI fund reached its target in [...]
Take-private deals worth more than $1bn set to increase in 2019 December 18, 2018 Private equity buyouts of public companies over $1bn could increase next year as firms fight to find value. Take-private deals are likely to be much larger than other buyouts generally, with figures from Pitchbook showing that the median size this year was $977m, compared to the average non-take-private deal size of $175m. A third of public-to-private [...]