Johnson eyes measures to help families deal with rising energy bills January 31, 2022 Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak are set to agree upon a package of measures this week designed to ease the burden of incoming energy bill hikes next month for low-income households. The pair are expected to only target support for millions of low-wage workers, pensioners and unemployed people, with three existing schemes to be extended [...]
Letters: Music to my ears – if I want it January 31, 2022 [Re: Competition watchdog shines spotlight on music streaming, Jan 28] Leah Montebello wrote last week that the UK competition watchdog will “look at the roles played by record labels and streaming platforms” and decide if the market leaders hold excessive power. Music streaming has been around in some form for decades and even before the [...]
Johnson unveils ‘Brexit freedom’ bill to shed EU regulation January 31, 2022 The government is set to bring forward a new “Brexit Freedoms” bill, which aims to make it easier to shed EU regulations post-Brexit. Number 10 said tonight that the reforms will cut £1bn of red tape, with the proposed measures set to be published by the government later today. It added that the new bill [...]
Freshfields pays out £50k bonuses to private equity lawyers January 31, 2022 Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has begun paying out special bonuses to mid-ranking lawyers working on private equity deals, as it seeks to keep hold of its staff in the face of competition from US firms. The London-headquartered firm is reportedly paying out bonuses worth £50,000 to lawyers working on private equity deals. [...]
The New State of M&A: EMEA January 31, 2022 What does the M&A process look like for practitioners today and in the future, and how much of it can and should be automated and in what areas? These are some of the key questions we asked 860 EMEA-based M&A practitioners from corporates, private equity firms, investments banks, law and professional services firms for their [...]
EMEA 2022 M&A Outlook: What will drive deals? January 31, 2022 M&A hit all-time highs in EMEA in 2021 and it seems activity is unlikely to slow in 2022. Deal value in the region for the year to end-Q3 2021 came in at €980bn, 100% up on the same period last year, with deal volumes climbing 49% to 7,545. Will the pace and level of M&A [...]
EU Sustainability Taxonomy: It’s not easy being green, or is it? January 31, 2022 In the ongoing debate around environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and rising demand for sustainable investments, one major topic of conversation has been taxonomy – defining what does and does not qualify as ‘sustainable’ or ‘green’ investing. Classification to help investor confidenceRegulators in Europe have been at the vanguard for many ESG-related matters and [...]
ESG: A dealbreaker but not a board priority in the UK in 2022 January 31, 2022 Environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues aren’t expected to be prioritised by boards in 2022, even though half of M&A deals in 2021 didn’t progress due to ESG concerns, according to a survey of 200 UK dealmakers by Datasite. According to the results, over half (52%) of UK dealmakers said ESG credential concerns impacted M&A [...]
Guinness owner Diageo plots £73m London microbrewery January 31, 2022 Diageo has revealed plans to build a £73m Guinness microbrewery in a sign that London's hospitality industry is making a post-Covid comeback.
Growth fund Norrsken22 raises $200m to spur growth in African tech January 31, 2022 A tech fund backed by 30 ‘unicorn’ founders has today closed a $200m raise to seek out and spur growth in Africa’s future tech giants.
