Next and Frasers go head to head for control of Harvey Nichols Retail Retail giants Next and Frasers are set to go head to head for control of ailing department store Harvey Nichols when the Hong Kong-owned firm takes bids from British suitors later on Tuesday. The Knightsbridge-headquartered department store chain was put up for sale last month by its owner, Hong Kong billionaire Sir Dickson Poon, and [...]
FTSE 100 firm agrees £5.7bn takeover in latest private equity swoop Markets FTSE 100 energy group DCC has agreed to a £5.75bn takeover by a group of private equity firms in another blow to the London Stock Exchange after a flurry of takeovers this year. US private equity firm KKR and Energy Capital Partners, a subsidiary of London-listed Bridgepoint, said this morning they would pay a total [...]
‘Sh*tloads to come’: London takeover spree set to accelerate Investing At a gathering of some of London’s top bankers in the City of London last week, the mood was one of uncertainty. On the one hand, London’s dealmakers are not in want of work. In the past two weeks alone Easyjet has opened the door to an approach from American private equity firm Castlelake, Ramsdens [...]
HSBC bags £135m from former Silicon Valley Bank as job cuts push up restructuring bill June 24, 2026 The rescued UK wing of Silicon Valley Bank has paid another bumper dividend to HSBC as it racked up costs amid a sweeping restructure. HSBC Innovation Banking – the branding bestowed on the collapsed Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVBUK) – was taken over by Europe’s largest lender in March 2023 as ministers, regulators and banking [...]
FTSE 100 Segro shares rocket as it fights off £12.6bn swoop by US real estate giant June 24, 2026 Real estate investment firm Segro has rejected a £12.6bn bid from a US fund looking to combine the two companies into one mammoth investment trust. Prologis said it had gone public with its offer in a bid to convince Segro shareholders to back the deal. As part of Prologis’ offer, Segro stocks would be valued [...]
GSK shares slip after buying US cancer treatment firm Nuvalent for $10.6bn June 9, 2026 Pharma giant GSK has sealed a $10bn deal to snap up Boston-based biopharmaceutical company Nuvalent. The FTSE 100 titan said it will pay $124 per share in cash in the agreement, marking a 40 per cent premium over what Nuvalent’s stock was trading at just before this announcement. The deal is expected to officially close [...]
Reform UK Treasurer Nick Candy takes podcast firm off sales block June 8, 2026 The podcast firm owned by the billionaire treasurer of the Reform Party has been taken off the sales block after first laying out plans for a deal last year. Audioboom, in which property tycoon Nick Candy is the majority shareholder, launched a strategic review in October, where it said the end result could lead to [...]
Easyjet fires back at ‘highly opportunistic timing’ as Castlelake weighs takeover bid June 1, 2026 Easyjet has fired back at speculation of a takeover, after reports emerged that private credit firm Castlelake was weighing a bid. The budget airline said it notes the “highly opportunistic timing” of a potential offer as it asserted its share price is “temporarily depressed due to the current situation in the Middle East and its [...]
Jamie Dimon opens door to a $20bn JP Morgan takeover May 28, 2026 Jamie Dimon has kicked the door open to the prospect of JP Morgan completing a major takeover that would shake-up the global banking landscape. The Wall Street boss raised the idea of the bank spending as much as $20bn (£15bn) as it looks to capitalise on the freed up capital from deregulation reforms. “I do [...]
Curve swings to £9m loss as Lloyds takeover remains incomplete May 20, 2026 Curve has swung to a loss as the Apple Pay rival’s future faces uncertainty ahead of its takeover by Lloyds Banking Group. The digital wallet provider suffered a £9.5m loss in the 2024 financial year, a major drawback from its £3m profit the 12 months prior. The tide turned on Curve’s balance sheet as revenue [...]