Value of UK deals rockets as buyers pounce on FTSE 100 firms Merger/Acquisition The value of UK merger and acquisitions more than doubled in the first half of 2026 as foreign buyers capitalised on sluggish valuations to pick off some of Britain’s most valuable companies. Takeovers worth some £124bn were struck in the first six months of the year, up 107 per cent year-on-year from £60bn in the [...]
Unilever turns to ‘avocado mayonnaise’ as food weighs on profit ahead of spin-off Retail Unilever has turned to novel products including “avocado mayonnaise” in a bid to boost ailing sales in its food arm, which is poised to be spun off in a £33bn deal. The consumer goods giant upgraded its sales expectations but saw the performance of its food business and European operations drag on the group’s operating [...]
As it happened: Stocks jump as oil drops; Unilever shares soar on decade-best sales Markets Welcome back to the City AM FTSE 100 liveblog. It’s Tuesday and the UK’s blue-chip index has made strong gains following a peaky start to the day. The markets took a boost yesterday after oil dropped back after reaching two-month highs of more than $100 per barrel last week when the Iran backed-Houthis took responsibility for tanker [...]
Terry Smith dubs weight-loss giant Novo Nordisk ‘investment disaster’ July 7, 2026 Star stockpicker Terry Smith has dubbed weight-loss giant Novo Nordisk an “investment disaster” less than two years after he dumped his entire Diageo stake over fears that GLP-1 users would ditch alcohol. The veteran investment manager, who runs the Fundsmith Equity fund, has said that he regrets his investment in the Danish pharmaceutical firm. “Novo [...]
Unilever chief on how to activate 35 brands at the Fifa World Cup June 30, 2026 With the World Cup a sponsor’s heaven, Matt Hardy asks Unilever how the FMCG behemoth activates 35 brands amid a need to be noticed. A number of the brand campaigns at this Fifa World Cup have been sublime, others have fallen a little flat. Activating at a tournament watched by billions across nearly 200 countries [...]
Pigment boss: ‘We’re replacing legacy players at the speed of light’ June 24, 2026 Eléonore Crespo, co-founder and chief executive of Pigment, said the company is replacing legacy enterprise software providers “at the speed of light”, as demand for AI-native business planning accelerates across the private sector. The Paris-headquartered platform, which helps companies including Unilever, Siemens, Anthropic and Coca-Cola run financial planning and performance management, is approaching $100m (£75m) [...]
Terry Smith sells Magnum stake weeks after Unilever salvo June 23, 2026 Star stockpicker Terry Smith has offloaded his entire holding in Unilever spin-off Magnum Ice Cream just weeks after exiting his stake in its former parent company, which he accused of abandoning the priorities of its long-term investors. Smith, the feted fund manager who runs the £12.7bn Fundsmith Equity Fund, dumped his stake in Amsterdam-listed Magnum [...]
Burberry delays climate pledge by a decade to 2050 May 29, 2026 Burberry has pushed back its net zero target by a decade, becoming the latest blue-chip business to water down ambitious climate goals set in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, City AM can reveal. The high-end fashion firm, known for its trench coats and tartan scarves, made the decision to delay its target to become [...]
Exclusive: F1 Academy launch partnership with Unilever’s Dirt is Good May 18, 2026 Unilever brand Dirt Is Good will today announce a partnership with the all-female racing series F1 Academy, City AM can reveal. The laundry group, which counts OMO, Persil, breeze and Skip within its brand portfolio, has signed a multi-year deal with the single-seater series which will begin this weekend in Canada. F1 Academy is an [...]
Star stockpicker Terry Smith dumps entire Unilever holding after McCormick mega-merger May 12, 2026 One of Britain’s best-known fund managers has dumped his holding in Unilever worth hundreds of millions of pounds, accusing the consumer goods giant of abandoning its traditional shareholders in favour of activist-driven deals like last month’s McCormick mega-deal. Terry Smith, the star stockpicker behind the £12.5bn Fundsmith Equity Fund, sold out of his position in [...]