Morrisons accepts £6.3bn takeover bid from SoftBank-backed Fortress July 3, 2021 Morrisons has accepted a £6.3bn takeover bid from a new group of funds led by affiliates of SoftBank-backed Fortress, the firm announced this morning. Morrisons shareholders will receive 254p a share, comprising 252p in cash and a 2p cash dividend. Read more: Top Morrisons investor says CD&R should up its bid to £6.5bn The group is [...]
Business committee writes to CMA over private equity takeover concerns July 1, 2021 A spate of recent private equity interest in the UK’s supermarkets has prompted the chair of the parliamentary business committee to question whether the competition watchdog has sharp enough teeth to deal with such bids. Over the weekend, buyout specialists Clayton, Dubilier & Rice made an unprompted £5.5bn offer for Morrisons, which rejected the bid. [...]
City of London Corporation unveils plans for startup hub at City Place House July 1, 2021 The City of London Corporation this morning announced it has resolved to grant planning permission for Great Portland Estates’ redevelopment of City Place House into a 13-storey office structure that will include affordable space for small businesses and startups. The redevelopment, which will be overseen by Great Portland Estates, will be redeveloped into a 44,500 [...]
Top Morrisons investor says CD&R should up its bid to £6.5bn June 30, 2021 A top Morrisons shareholder said that New York bidder Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) must pay “a fair price” for the supermarket. One of Morrison’s top 10 investors J O Hambro has said that any potential bidder for the supermarket should raise its offer to £6.5bn if it wants the takeover to succeed. Shares in [...]
London-listed UDG Healthcare agrees £2.8bn takeover deal June 29, 2021 London-listed private healthcare business UDG has agreed a takeover deal after its US buyer hiked its offer to £2.8bn. Private equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice had tabled a £2.6bn offer in May, but some shareholders branded the bid “opportunistic”. Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which is bidding through affiliate Nenelite, today unveiled an increased and [...]
Cobham puts top secret defence rival Ultra Electronics in its sights June 26, 2021 British aerospace giant Cobham has set its sights on the engineering company behind some of the UK’s most critical military equipment, paving the way for a potential hostile takeover bid. The defence group, which itself was taken over by US private equity firm Advent International in a £4bn deal last year, said it was considering [...]
Labour says government should intervene in private equity takeover of Morrisons June 23, 2021 Labour has called on the government to confirm it will intervene in any private equity takeover of Morrisons to secure binding commitments about the buyer’s business plan, on jobs and on pensions. Morrisons revealed this weekend it had rejected a £5.5bn takeover bid from private equity firm Clayton, Dubiliter & Rice (CD&R), saying it believed [...]
E-commerce grocery sales plateau boosts Aldi’s market share to peak levels June 22, 2021 The growth of e-commerce sales in the grocery market has plateaued, giving the likes of Aldi an opportunity to grow its market share after not making use of online sales in the past year. The percentage of e-commerce sales in the grocery market remained flat at 13.4 per cent in the four weeks to 13 [...]
MPs to write to competition watchdog over potential takeover of Morrisons June 22, 2021 The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee is reportedly preparing to write to the Competition and Markets Authority over the takeover of Morrisons. The MPs’ decision to intervene followed concern from a group of Labour MPs that a private equity takeover of the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket would put thousands of jobs at risk, the [...]
US stocks surge after worst week in nearly four months June 21, 2021 Wall Street rallied today, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average completing its strongest session in over three months as investors piled back in to energy and other sectors expected to outperform as the economy rebounds from the pandemic. The S&P 500 value index, which includes banks, energy and other economically sensitive sectors and has led gains in [...]