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 [...]
FTSE 250 Assura receives unsolicited takeover approach February 15, 2025 Assura, the FTSE 250 healthcare real estate investment trust, has received an unsolicited takeover approach from private equity giant KKR and a major universities pension scheme. The Altrincham-headquartered company confirmed late on Friday that it had been contacted by KKR and USS Investment Management, which is representing Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS). The parties have until [...]
Typhoo Tea rescue deal eyed up by vapes giant Supreme November 28, 2024 Supreme, which sells products such as vapes and vitamins, is eyeing up a rescue deal for Typhoo Tea after the 120-year-old brand collapsed into administration. Greater Manchester-headquartered Supreme has confirmed it is “currently participating in a process regarding the potential acquisition” and added that discussions are at ‘an advanced stage”. However, the company said that [...]
National World: Shares in Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman owner surge after £56m takeover offer November 22, 2024 Shares in National World, the media group whose titles include Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman, have surged to their highest level in more than a year after a takeover offer with over £56m was revealed. Irish media group Media Concierge, which is London-listed National World’s largest shareholder with a 26 per cent stake, has tabled [...]