Deal fever: Banking giants plot takeovers to ramp up market share June 18, 2025 British banking is poised for a major shake-up as top names go on the hunt for fresh acquisitions. Lenders have been scouting new deals that would send shockwaves across the industry. Much of the prospective dealmaking involves London lender Shawbrook, whose private equity owners have been circling high street bank Metro. Ahead of this, Shawbrook [...]
Natwest top pick to acquire TSB June 17, 2025 British banking juggernaut Natwest Group has been pegged as the “most likely acquirer” of TSB Bank. Natwest returned to private ownership last month, ending a nearly two-decade-long banking saga and setting the lender up for a deals spree. The bank has purchased over £5bn worth of shares from the Treasury as part of its directed buyback [...]
Banco Sabadell weighing sale of TSB Bank June 17, 2025 Banco Sabadell is mulling the sale of its British high street bank TSB after receiving expressions of interest. The Spanish lender confirmed last night that it has been approached regarding a potential takeover. Sabadell is reportedly working with advisers to examine the sale of the high street lender and has been in contact with potential [...]
Peel Hunt: UK stock market held back by ‘lack of self esteem’ June 16, 2025 The boss of City broker Peel Hunt has said London markets are being held back by a “domestic lack of self esteem”. Steven Fine, Peel Hunt’s chief executive, told City AM the UK believes it is in “a lot worse shape than the rest of the world does,” which has led to a cheapening of [...]
Bargain Britain: UK firms under siege by foreign takeovers June 12, 2025 The London Stock Exchange has suffered a bruising week as private equity firms and foreign giants continue to snap up British bargains. Markets were hit with a double blow on Wednesday after Canadian consultancy giant acquired engineering firm Ricardo and KKR returned with a final bid for GP Landlord Assura. Assura has recommended a cash [...]
Canadian giant swoops for London-listed Ricardo June 11, 2025 London-listed engineering firm Ricardo has agreed to a £281m acquisition deal by Canadian consultancy giant WSP in the latest foreign takeover blow to the London Stock Exchange. Ricardo has accepted the 430p per share offer, a 28 per cent increase on the firm’s closing price on June 10 of 326p. It is a 69 per [...]
Bargain basement Britain: Tech takeovers continue with three billion-pound swoops in a day June 9, 2025 The frenzy of UK tech takeovers showed no signs of slowing down on Monday after three separate billion-pound M&A moves were made within hours of each other as US tech giants continued their hunt for British bargains. First to announce a move on Monday was London-listed semiconductor firm Alphawave, which confirmed it had reached an [...]
TSB Bank’s profit rockets from stamp duty rush and cost-cutting May 8, 2025 TSB Bank’s cost-cutting plans and a rush to beat the stamp duty deadline imposed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves helped bolster profits in the first quarter. The Edinburgh-headquartered lender increased profit before tax to £101.3m for the first three months of 2025 – an 89 per cent jump from £53.4m in 2024. Operating expenses fell 4.7 [...]
GP landlord Primary Health Properties makes new offer for peer Assura April 3, 2025 GP landlord Primary Health Properties (PHP) has made a new offer for FTSE 250 healthcare real estate investment trust peer Assura, offering a £1.5bn merger to the REIT. PHP has offered £1.5bn for the trust, which would see Assura’s shareholders owning about 48 per cent of the combined group’s shares, which would become the eighth [...]
Assura: FTSE 250 firm rejects £1.5bn takeover approach February 17, 2025 FTSE 250 healthcare real estate investment trust Assura has rejected a takeover offer worth more than £1.5m – the fourth such deal it has turned down in the last six months it has been revealed. The Altrincham-headquartered business hit the headlines at the end of last week when it emerged it had been approached by [...]